CD3 immunohistochemistry is helpful in the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis.

Abstract

To evaluate whether CD3 staining performed routinely on temporal artery biopsy specimens might improve the sensitivity of temporal artery biopsy in patients with biopsy-negative GCA. Two hundred and seventy biopsies were considered for this study, stained with haematoxylin and eosin and with an anti-CD3 antibody. The addition of CD3 staining modified the sensibility and the specificity of the histologic examination in 89.47 and 95.00%, respectively, with a positive and negative predictive values of 97.00 and 79.78% . The addition of CD3 immunostaining to the classic histologic evaluation is accompanied by a significant increase in the sensibility with a comparable specificity.