title: Temporal artery biopsy size does not matter.
abstract: This study aimed to clarify whether positive temporal artery biopsies had a greater sample length than negative biopsies in temporal arteritis. It has been suggested that biopsy length should be at least 1 cm to improve diagnostic accuracy. A retrospective review of 149 patients who had 151 temporal artery biopsies was conducted. Twenty biopsies were positive (13.3%), 124 negative (82.1%) and seven samples were insufficient (4.6%). There was no clinically significant difference in the mean biopsy size between positive (0.7 cm) and negative samples (0.65 cm) (t-test: p = .43 NS). Ninety-four patients fulfilled all three ACR criteria prior to biopsy (62.3%) and four patients (2.6%) changed ACR score from 2 to 3 after biopsy. Treatment should not be delayed in anticipation of the biopsy or withheld in the case of a negative biopsy if the patient's symptoms improve.
authors.affiliation: Croydon University Hospital, London, UK skaptanis@nhs.net.
authors.forename: Sarantos
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaptanis
authors.affiliation: Croydon University Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Joanne K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.affiliation: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Constantine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Halkias
authors.affiliation: Croydon University Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Caton
authors.affiliation: Croydon University Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Lida
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alarcon
authors.affiliation: Croydon University Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Stella
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013699:Temporal Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ACR criteria; Giant cell arteritis; size; temporal artery biopsy