Virtual skin biopsy by optical coherence tomography: the first quantitative imaging biomarker for scleroderma

Abignano G., Aydin S. Z. , Castillo-Gallego C., Liakouli V., Woods D., Meekings A., ...More

ANNALS OF THE RHEUMATIC DISEASES, vol.72, no.11, pp.1845-1851, 2013 (Peer-Reviewed Journal) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 72 Issue: 11
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Doi Number: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-202682
  • Journal Name: ANNALS OF THE RHEUMATIC DISEASES
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded, Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.1845-1851

Abstract

Background Skin involvement is of major prognostic value in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and often the primary outcome in clinical trials. Nevertheless, an objective, validated biomarker of skin fibrosis is lacking. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technology providing high-contrast images with 4m resolution, comparable with microscopy (virtual biopsy'). The present study evaluated OCT to detect and quantify skin fibrosis in SSc.