Reassessment Of Whether Herpes Zoster is Associated With Giant Cell Arteritis

The inciting cause of the inflammatory process in giant cell arteritis (GCA) is unknown. Herpes zoster (shingles) is the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) during late adulthood. One recent report by Gilden et al found herpes zoster antigen in 74% of 82 temporal artery biopsies obtained from GCA patients (Neurology 2015). A second 2016 study conducted by Pisapia and Lavi of 19biopsies failed to confirm the findings of the first study. Because of the conflicting reports about herpes zoster antigen, the goal of this project was to evaluate temporal artery specimens diagnosed as GCA by our Ocular Pathology Laboratory, to see if they have evidence of zoster antigen, and then to correlate positive laboratory findings with clinical data.