What can I claim secondary to giant cell arteritis?
2 conditions in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list giant cell arteritis as a factor. If DVA has accepted your giant cell arteritis, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionGiant cell arteritis
- Conditions it may open2
- SourceRMA SoPs
- Chart Review$600 + GST
How a secondary claim works
Some Statement of Principles factors are not about service at all — they name another condition. Where DVA has already accepted your giant cell arteritis, and another condition's SoP lists giant cell arteritis as a factor, that part of the next claim is already established on your file. How a secondary claim works, in full →
Conditions that list giant cell arteritis as a factor
Quoted from the instrument. A pathway existing is not the same as a claim succeeding — each factor carries thresholds your record has to satisfy.
Acute myeloid leukaemia
RH No. 21 of 2024 · BoP No. 22 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (14): “having one of the following autoimmune diseases before clinical onset: (a) autoimmune haemolytic anaemia; (b) giant cell arteritis; (c) pernicious anaemia; (d) polymyalgia rheumatica; (e) rheumatoid arthritis; (f) sarcoidosis; (g) systemic lupus erythematosus; (h) systemic vasculitis; or (i) ulcerative colitis” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (12): “having one of the following autoimmune diseases before clinical onset: (a) autoimmune haemolytic anaemia; (b) giant cell arteritis; (c) pernicious anaemia; (d) polymyalgia rheumatica; (e) rheumatoid arthritis; (f) systemic lupus erythematosus; (g) systemic vasculitis; or (h) ulcerative colitis” [clinical onset]
Trigeminal neuralgia or trigeminal neuropathy
RH No. 84 of 2024 · BoP No. 85 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (13): “having one of the following systemic vasculitides: (a) Behçet disease; (b) eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss syndrome); (c) giant cell arteritis; (d) granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener granulomatosis); (e) polyarteritis nodosa; (f) Takayasu arteritis; at the time of clinical onset or clinical worsening of trigeminal neuropathy” [onset and worsening]
This factor appears in the Reasonable Hypothesis instrument only, which applies to operational service.
Other accepted conditions that also open acute myeloid leukaemia
If any of these is also on your file, it reaches some of the same conditions giant cell arteritis does.
What DVA means by giant cell arteritis
A claim is tested against the definition first. If the diagnosis on your file does not meet this wording, the factors below never get reached — so it is worth checking that what your doctor wrote matches what the instrument requires.
Giant cell arteritis, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, giant cell arteritis means a systemic autoimmune vasculitis that involves large and medium-sized arteries and principally affects the cranial branches of the carotid arteries.
Aggravation-only factors. In this instrument, subsections 9(2) to 9(3) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, giant cell arteritis where it was already present before or during service. If service caused giant cell arteritis outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 11 of 2021 · BoP No. 12 of 2021 · 3 factors
Reviewed by Dr Thomas Perkins
Founding doctor, Veterans Health Centre · former RAAF aviation medical officer · 13 years working exclusively with ADF members and veterans. Full profile →
Giant cell arteritis accepted?
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