Concordance of bilateral temporal artery biopsy in giant cell arteritis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the diagnostic sensitivity of bilateral temporal artery biopsy is superior to that of unilateral biopsy in cases of suspected temporal arteritis.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis of the results of 60 bilateral temporal artery biopsies examined in an ophthalmic pathology laboratory.


RESULTS
The histopathologic diagnosis in 13% of the biopsy pairs was discordant. There was a 5% chance of obtaining a positive biopsy result on the side opposite an initially negative biopsy result.


CONCLUSIONS
Bilateral temporal artery biopsy is 5% more likely than unilateral biopsy to detect the characteristic histopathologic findings in patients with temporal arteritis.
Pless
M
M
The Eye and Ear Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania 15221, USA.
Rizzo
J F
JF
Lamkin
J C
JC
Lessell
S
S
D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013699:Temporal Arteries / Q000473:pathology*