Table 1.

Criteria for determining the presence of the histological characteristics of the adventitial layer.

	Histological feature	Criteria
Laminated layer disorganization	Either whole laminated segments inside the adventitial layer or host cell infiltration between the laminated layer sheets	At least one in the entire sample
Necrosis between the laminated and adventitial layer	Presence of an eosinophilic zone devoid of cells without a fibrous structure	Across one low-power magnification field (approximately 5 mm)
Calcifications	Presence of strong haematoxylin staining without cells and with crystal structures	At least one in the entire sample
Host cells in the germinal layer	As previously described [42]	At least one in the entire sample
Giant multinucleated cells	Cells with 5 or more nuclei near the laminated layer	At least one per high-power magnification field (1 mm)
Palisading macrophages	The presence of foamy macrophages with cytoplasmic projections in contact with the laminated layer	Across one low-power magnification field
Lymphoid follicles	Circular structures with lymphocytes near the laminated layer	At least one per low-power magnification field
Eosinophils	Cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm near the laminated layer	At least ten or more eosinophil nuclei per high-power magnification field

When a feature was not recorded in both slides, it was considered absent.