No evidence of varicella-zoster virus infection in temporal artery biopsies of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy patients with and without giant cell arteritis

BACKGROUND: To test the hypothesis that varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection contributes to temporal arteritis pathogenesis, comprehensive in situ analysis was performed on temporal artery biopsies of 38 anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) patients, including 14 (37%) with giant cell arteritis.

METHODS: Biopsies were completely sectioned, and, on average, 146 serial sections per patient were stained for VZV glycoprotein E.

RESULTS: Four of 38 AION patients showed VZV glycoprotein E staining, but VZV infection was not confirmed by staining for VZV IE63 protein and VZV-specific polymerase chain reaction on adjacent sections.

CONCLUSIONS: This study refutes the premise that VZV is casually related to AION with and without giant cell arteritis.