Pulmonary manifestations of temporal arteritis

Temporal arteritis is a well-recognized multi-systemic disease. Pulmonary manifestations, however, are extremely rare. In two patients with biopsy-proven temporal arteritis, lung involvement was observed. One patient presented with multinodular pulmonary lesions, while the second had a diffuse interstitial pattern. Both patients responded well to corticosteroid treatment. In a review of the literature, only four additional cases associating lung involvement with temporal arteritis were found. The possibility of primary pulmonary vasculitis should be considered in elderly patients with temporal arteritis.