TY - JOUR T1 - Increased Incidence of Giant Cell Arteritis in Urban Areas? JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 327 LP - 328 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.180714 VL - 46 IS - 3 AU - LENE KRISTIN BREKKE AU - BJØRG-TILDE FEVANG AU - GEIRMUND MYKLEBUST Y1 - 2019/03/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/46/3/327.abstract N2 - Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common systemic vasculitis in adults. The pathogenesis and the etiology of the disease are not fully understood, and environmental factors, which may influence the incidence and prevalence, are poorly investigated. Only a few small studies have previously addressed the potential influence of rural or urban residence on the occurrence of GCA1,2,3. In 2017 we published the results of a 41-year study of 743 patients with GCA from Bergen Health Area (Norway), in which incidence estimates were stratified by sex, age, biopsy result, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate4. Bergen Health Area is a mixed urban and rural area. In this report we present incidence estimates stratified by centrality, which may clarify the influence of rural versus urban residence on the incidence of GCA.This study was approved by REK sør-øst B regional ethics committee (study reference 2012/643/REK sør-øst B), who granted permission to access records without obtaining consent from patients owing to the long duration of the study and late onset of the disease.We performed a hospital-based … Address correspondence to Dr. L.K. Brekke, HSR AS, PB 2175, 5504 Haugesund, Norway. E-mail: lene.kristin.brekke{at}hsr.as ER -