Giant-cell arteritis-related mortality in France: A multiple-cause-of-death analysis

Giant—cell arteritis (GCA) is a large vessel vasculitis. Data regarding mortality are controversial. We describe the mortality data of the French death certificates for the period of 2005 to 2014. Using multiple—cause—of—death (MCOD) analysis, we calculated age—adjusted mortality rates for GCA, examined differences in mortality rates according to age and gender and analyzed the underlying causes of death (UCD). We analyzed 4628 death certificates listing a diagnosis of GCA as UCD or non-underlying cause of death (NUCD). The mean age of death was 86 (±6.8) years. The overall age—standardized mortality rate among GCA patients was 7.2 per million population. Throughout the study period, the mean age of death was significantly increased (r = 0.17, p 1 in GCA—associated mortality compared with the general population mortality was observed for tuberculosis, pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases. In this analysis of French death certificates mentioning GCA, we observed a stable standardized mortality rate between 2005 and 2014. The most frequent associated diseases were cardiovascular diseases and infections.