Optoacoustic mesoscopy shows potential to increase accuracy of allergy patch testing.

Hindelang, Benedikt; Aguirre, Juan; Berezhnoi, Andrei; He, Hailong; Eyerich, Kilian; Ntziachristos, Vasilis; Biedermann, Tilo; Darsow, Ulf

doi:10.1111/cod.13563

journal article

Document type:: Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Author(s):: Hindelang, Benedikt; Aguirre, Juan; Berezhnoi, Andrei; He, Hailong; Eyerich, Kilian; Ntziachristos, Vasilis; Biedermann, Tilo; Darsow, Ulf
Title:: Optoacoustic mesoscopy shows potential to increase accuracy of allergy patch testing.
Abstract:: BACKGROUND: Differentiation between irritant and allergic skin reactions in epicutaneous patch testing is based largely on subjective clinical criteria, with the risk of high intraobserver and interobserver variability. Novel dermatological imaging using optoacoustic mesoscopy allows quantitative three-dimensional assessment of microvascular biomarkers. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the potential of optoacoustic imaging to improve the precision of patch test evaluation. METHODS: Sixty-nine test reactions and 48 healthy skin sections in 52 patients with suspected type IV allergy were examined using raster-scan optoacoustic mesoscopy. RESULTS: We identified biomarkers from the optoacoustic images. Allergic reactions were associated with higher fragmentation of skin vasculature than irritant reactions (19.5 ± 9.7 vs 14.3 ± 3.7 fragments/100 pixels2 ; P < .05), as well as lower ratio of low- to high-frequency acoustic signals (1.6 ± 0.5 vs 2.0 ± 0.6, P < .05). Allergic reactions graded "++" showed higher vessel fragmentation than reactions graded "+" (25.4 ± 13.2 vs 17.1 ± 6.5 fragments/100 pixels2 ; P < .05). A linear model combining the biomarkers fragmentation and frequency ratio could differentiate allergic from irritant test reactions with an area under the receiving operator characteristic curve of 0.80 (95% confidence interval 0.64-0.91), reaching a sensitivity of 81% and specificity of 63%. CONCLUSIONS: Optoacoustic mesoscopy shows potential to help in differentiating between allergic and irritant test reactions based on novel biomarkers that may reflect vasodilation, vessel tortuosity, and edema.
Journal title:: Contact Dermatitis
Journal title abbreviation:: Contact Dermatitis
Year:: 2020
Journal volume:: 83
Journal issue:: 3
Pages contribution:: 206-214
Fulltext / DOI:: doi:10.1111/cod.13563
Pubmed ID:: http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32311105
WWW:: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cod.13563
Print-ISSN:: 0105-1873
TUM Institution:: Klinik und Poliklinik für Dermatologie und Allergologie; Lehrstuhl für Biologische Bildgebung - Zusammenarbeit mit dem Helmholtz-Zentrum München (Prof. Ntziachristos); Professur für Experimentelle Dermato-Immunologie (Prof. Eyerich)
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