Short-Facelift Approach in Temporal Artery Biopsy: Is It Safe?

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a quite common panarteritis of the elderly that affects medium- and large-size arteries. Despite the increasing role of imaging with advancing technology, the gold standard for the diagnosis of GCA is still the temporal artery biopsy. A described complication of superfi...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Mario Faenza, Giuseppina Piccolo, Mariano Funaro, Roberto Grella, Ilenia Pantano, Francesco Ciccia
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
Materias:
T
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/6d5f4d9806ae4fb481929277245ea788
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a quite common panarteritis of the elderly that affects medium- and large-size arteries. Despite the increasing role of imaging with advancing technology, the gold standard for the diagnosis of GCA is still the temporal artery biopsy. A described complication of superficial temporal artery biopsy (STAB), for which incidence is not clear, is the accidental damage of the frontal branch of the facial nerve. In this paper, we described the short-scar facelift surgical approach for STAB on 23 consecutive patients who underwent unilateral superficial temporal artery biopsy for GCA suspicion. We collected data in terms of postoperative complications, biopsy specimen length, biopsy result and cosmetic appearance of the scar. In our experience, this surgical approach combines the advantage of avoiding incisions within the dangerous anatomical area, minimizing the risk of facial nerve damage, with an acceptable complication rate and a good final aesthetic result which avoids visible scarring.