TY - JOUR T1 - Diagnostic value of ultrasound halo count and Halo Score in giant cell arteritis: a retrospective study from routine care JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis DO - 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-218631 SP - annrheumdis-2020-218631 AU - Juan Molina Collada AU - Julia Martínez-Barrio AU - Belén Serrano-Benavente AU - Isabel Castrejón AU - Liz Rocío Caballero Motta AU - Laura Trives Folguera AU - José María Álvaro-Gracia Y1 - 2020/08/05 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2020/08/05/annrheumdis-2020-218631.abstract N2 - We read with great interest the paper published by van der Geest et al1 on ‘Novel ultrasonographic Halo Score for giant cell arteritis (GCA): assessment of diagnostic accuracy and association with ocular ischaemia’. The authors aimed to quantify the extent of vascular inflammation by ultrasound (US) in patients with GCA and developed two novel US scoring systems, the halo count and Halo Score, including the assessment of the three temporal artery (TA) segments and axillary arteries. First, we would like to congratulate them for the novelty of their work that opens up new perspectives in the use of US in the assessment of GCA. According to recent EULAR recommendations, US is recommended as the first imaging modality in patients with suspected predominantly cranial GCA.2 The halo sign is the most relevant US finding in GCA and is defined as a homogeneous, hypoechoic wall thickening, well delineated towards the luminal side, visible in two perpendicular planes, most commonly concentric in transverse scan.3 The halo count and Halo Score constitute the first quantitative tools to assess the extent of vascular inflammation by US in GCA.1 According to their findings, a high volume of vascular inflammation on US … ER -