Diagnostic value of nailfold capillaroscopy to systemic sclerosis with Raynaud’s phenomenon: a preliminary study

Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) is one of the early clinical manifestations of diffuse connective tissue diseases (DCTD), such as systemic sclerosis (SSc), mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and dermatomyositis (DM)/ polymyositis (PM), and nailfold capillaroscopy (NC) enables an in vivo assessment of the morphology of cutaneous capillaries, and has been used for evaluating patients with RP [1]. NC distinguishes primary and secondary RP due to, connective tissue diseases (CTD) [1]. A typical normal NC pattern demonstrates hairpin capillaries, arranged in parallel with each other. In 1973, Maricq et al recognized massive capillary dilatation in scleroderma-dermatomyositis [2], and in 1980, they identified “scleroderma spectrum disorders”, including classic scleroderma, MCTD and DM, because of their indistinguishable NC findings [3]. In 1996, Kabasakal et al. described and quantified the morphological characteristics of different forms of CTD, thus enhancing the value of NC [4], and in 2000, Cutolo et al. classified NC patterns of scleroderma into 3 major patterns, namely “early”, “active” and “late” [5], which are now considered to be useful in assessing the appearance and progression of sclerodermic micro-angiopathy [5]. The Diagnostic value of nailfold capillaroscopy to systemic sclerosis with Raynaud’s phenomenon: a preliminary study Po-Chang Wu, Min-Nung Huang, Song-Chou Hsieh, Chia-Li Yu Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Graduate Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan GPILS-Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA