Ultrasonography in Temporal Arteritis

To the Editor: The study by Schmidt et al. (Nov. 6 issue) 1 describes color duplex ultrasonography as a highly specific and noninvasive diagnostic test for temporal arteritis. Although ultrasonography appears promising, the authors' conclusions about its utility as a diagnostic test may have been overstated. When evaluating a new diagnostic test, 2 it is important to compare the new test with the gold standard in an independent and blinded manner. The clinicians who assigned the diagnosis of temporal arteritis in the study by Schmidt et al. were aware of the ultrasound findings “in many cases,” which may have led to an . . .