Visualization of intradermal blood vessel structures by dual-wavelength photoacoustic microscopy and characterization of three-dimensional construction of livedo-racemosa in cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa

Background

Photoacoustic microscopy is expected to have clinical applications as a noninvasive and three-dimensional (3D) method of observing intradermal structures.

Objective

Investigate the applicability of a photoacoustic microscope equipped with two types of pulsed lasers that can simultaneously recognize hemoglobin and melanin.

Methods

16 skin lesions including erythema, pigmented lesions, vitiligo and purpura, were analyzed to visualize 3D structure of melanin granule distribution and dermal blood vessels. 13 cases of livedo racemosa in cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa (cPN) were further analyzed to visualize the 3D structure of dermal blood vessels in detail. Vascular structure was also analyzed in the biopsy specimens obtained from tender indurated erythema of cPN by CD34 immunostaining.

Results

Hemoglobin-recognition signal clearly visualized the 3D structure of dermal blood vessels and melanin-recognition signal was consistently reduced in vitiligo. In livedo racemosa, the hemoglobin-recognition signal revealed a relatively thick and large reticular structure in the deeper layers that became denser and finer toward the upper layers. The numerical analysis revealed that the number of dermal blood vessels was 1.29-fold higher (p<0.05) in the deeper region of the lesion than that of normal skin. The CD34 immunohistochemical analysis in tender indurated erythema revealed an increased number of dermal vessels compared with normal skin in 88.9% (8/9) of the cases, suggesting that vascular network remodeling had occurred in cPN.

Conclusion

The photoacoustic system has an advantage in noninvasively detecting dermal blood vessel structures that are difficult to recognize by two-dimensional histopathology specimen examination and is worth evaluating in various skin diseases.