Management of Suspected Temporal Arteritis: A Decision Analysis

Diane L. Elliot, William J. Watts, James B. Reuler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Management strategies for suspected temporal arteritis range from bilateral temporal artery biopsy to empiric corticosteroid therapy. A decision analysis of the clinical situation was constructed, and a sensitivity analysis for varying prevalences of temporal arteritis was used to calculate costs for different management strategies. Conclusions suggested by the analysis include the following: (1) due to the high cost of blindness, suspicion of disease must be low (< 1.4070) not to biopsy; (2) at high suspicion of disease (> 30Vo), empiric steroids are the cheapest management; (3) when diagnostic procedures are indicated, bilateral biopsy is the cheapest initial diagnostic procedure; and (4) if unilateral biopsy is negative, a second biopsy is always cost effective. (Med Decis Making 3:63-68, 1983).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)63-68
Number of pages6
JournalMedical Decision Making
Volume3
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1983

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health Policy

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