VZV in biopsy-positive and -negative giant cell arteritis: Analysis of 100+ temporal arteries

Abstract

We report the cumulative frequency, including previous studies,1,2 showing varicella-zoster virus (VZV) antigen in 73/104 (70%) giant cell arteritis (GCA)–positive temporal arteries (TAs), in 58/100 (58%) GCA-negative TAs (patients who manifest clinical and laboratory features of GCA whose TA biopsies are pathologically negative for GCA) and in 11/61 (18%) normal TAs acquired at autopsy. The location of VZV antigen in specific arterial layers and pathologic findings in GCA-negative arteries helps to explain disease pathogenesis. Acknowledgment: The authors thank their colleagues who shared biopsy specimens for evaluation, Marina Hoffman for editorial review, and Cathy Allen for word processing and formatting.