Electron microscopy of giant-cell (temporal) arteritis.

Definitive histological studies of giant-cell (temporal) arteritis have been published by several workers (Harrison, 1948; Heptinstall, Porter, and Barkley, 1954; McCormick and Neuberger, 1958). The lesions are fairly uniform and have involved all layers of many different arteries and veins-large and small, intracranial as well as extracranial. The distinctive histological finding in this disease has been a giantcell reaction with disruption of the internal elastic membrane. Aetiological factors are unknown. Biopsy specimens from a patient with a classical clinical and pathological case of giant-cell (temporal) arteritis have been examined electron microscopically. This report describes the ultrastructural details of this diseased artery.