Concordance of bilateral temporal artery biopsy in giant cell arteritis

Abstract

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.

Materials and 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.