Full-field optical coherence tomography for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis

Abstract

Histopathological examination of temporal artery biopsy (TAB) remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) but is associated with essential limitations that emphasize the need for an upgraded pathological process. This study pioneered the use of full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT) for rapid and automated on-site pathological diagnosis of GCA. Sixteen TABs (12 negative and 4 positive for GCA) were selected according to major histopathological criteria of GCA following hematoxylin-eosin-saffronstaining for subsequent acquisition with FF-OCT to compare structural modifications of the artery cell wall and thickness of each tunica. Gabor filtering of FF-OCT images was then used to compute TAB orientation maps and validate a potential automated analysis of TAB sections. FF-OCT allowed both qualitative and quantitative visualization of the main structures of the temporal artery wall, from the internal elastic lamina to the vasa vasorum and red blood cells, unveiling a significant correlation with conventional histology. FF-OCT imaging of GCA TABs revealed destruction of the media with distinct remodeling of the whole arterial wall into a denser reticular fibrous neo-intima, which is distinctive of GCA pathogenesis and accessible through automated Gabor filtering. Rapid on-site FF-OCT TAB acquisition makes it possible to identify some characteristic pathological lesions of GCA within a few minutes, paving the way for potential machine intelligence-based or even non-invasive diagnosis of GCA.

Methods and applications of full-filed optical coherence tomography: a review

“…11(a) – 11(d) , the reported applications include, but are not limited to, the discrimination of benign and malignant tissues of skin cancer, 35 , 103 , 105 breast invasive ductal cancer, 102 , 106 head and neck cancer, 104 as well as optical biopsy of intestinal tissues, 107 , 108 detection of esophageal mucosa, liver, and gastric mucosa. 86 , 102 , 106 , 109 – 113 Besides, FF-OCT incorporating artificial intelligence can benefit deep mining of the abundant image data, which can reduce the difficulty of human eye recognition, improve the accuracy of information recognition, and promote the efficiency of FF-OCT histological diagnosis.…”

Large-Vessel Vasculitis in Ophthalmology: Giant Cell Arteritis and Takayasu Arteritis

“…FFOCT uses face whitelight interference microscopy to obtain high-quality visualization of biological structures and the subcellular metabolic contrast in tissue depth 37 . FFOCT also allows for rapid and onsite acquisition ofTAB specimens, even within minutes 37 . They found that FFOCT offers spatial resolution with high enough quality to gather quantitative information on the thickness of artery wall layers and the architecture of the connective tissue 37 .…”

“…FFOCT also allows for rapid and onsite acquisition ofTAB specimens, even within minutes 37 . They found that FFOCT offers spatial resolution with high enough quality to gather quantitative information on the thickness of artery wall layers and the architecture of the connective tissue 37 . Moreover, they ascertained that FFOCT imaging results correlated to those of traditional histology methods when analyzing TAB specimens 37 .…”

“…37 They found that FFOCT offers spatial resolution with high enough quality to gather quantitative information on the thickness of artery wall layers and the architecture of the connective tissue. 37 Moreover, they ascertained that FFOCT imaging results correlated to those of traditional histology methods when analyzing TAB specimens. 37 Maldiney et al ultimately concluded that FFOCT offers potential in distinguishing the architectural changes in arterial walls that occur in the inflammatory process of GCA.…”

“…37 Moreover, they ascertained that FFOCT imaging results correlated to those of traditional histology methods when analyzing TAB specimens. 37 Maldiney et al ultimately concluded that FFOCT offers potential in distinguishing the architectural changes in arterial walls that occur in the inflammatory process of GCA.…”