Multinucleated giant cell

A giant cell is a mass formed by the union of several distinct cells (usually macrophages), often forming a granuloma. It can arise in response to an infection, such as from tuberculosis, herpes, or HIV, or foreign body. These multinucleate giant cells (also known as MGCs) are cells of monocyte or macrophage lineage fused together.

Types include:

Also

Multinucleated giant cell formations can arise from numerous types of bacteria, diseases, and cell formations. Giant cells are known to develop when infections are also present. They were first noticed as early as the middle of the last century, but still it is not fully understood why these reactions occur. In the process of giant cell formation, monocytes or macrophages fuse together, which could cause multiple problems for the immune system.

The most common form of giant cell formations is giant-cell arteritis, it is also known as temporal arteritis or cranial arteritis. This type of arteritis causes the arteries in the head, neck, and arm area to swell to abnormal sizes. Although this disease has no apparent causes it seems to be related to polymyalgia rheumatica.

This disease is mostly known to affect older individuals that are in their fifties and sixties. Women are three times more likely to develop the disease than men are and Caucasians are seven times more likely to develop the disease than Africans.

Symptoms may include: Mild fever, Loss of appetite, Fatigue, Vision loss, Severe headache.

Symptoms are very similar to the flu virus and is often mistaken to be the flu virus. In the worst-case scenario, if left untreated, this disease can result in permanent blindness.

The gold standard for diagnosis is a biopsy. Before the biopsy to take place the skin in your face will need to be anesthetised for the incision. After numbing, an incision will be made in the face around the area of the temples to get a sample of the temporal artery. The incision will then be sutured.

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