J Rheumatol 2022 Jun 1. Epub 2022 Jun 1.
Department of Rheumatology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Department of Translational Medicine - Hand Surgery, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden; Department of Medicine, Vasculitis and Lupus Research Group, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Department of Neuropathology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom. This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet: 2019-01655), Faculty of Medicine, Lund University (ALF-medel). Correspondence to Karl Gisslander, Department of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Lund University 221 85 Lund;
Objective: The diagnostic yield of sural nerve biopsy (SNB) in vasculitis is uncertain. Our aim was to document relevant characteristics of patients undergoing sural nerve biopsy in the investigation of vasculitis; determine the diagnostic yield; relate positive biopsy findings to patient demographic, laboratory, and clinical parameters; and to calculate the rate of surgical complications.
Methods: Patients with suspected vasculitis that underwent SNB as part of diagnostic evaluation at academic medical centres in Sweden and the United Kingdom were identified by searching local pathology databases and clinic registers. Read More