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Rheumatologists Find Nailfold Capillaroscopy an Increasingly Useful Diagnostic Tool

  |  Issue: October 2017  |  

Hopefully, nailfold capillaroscopy will allow researchers to assess whether early interventions with available vascular remodeling drugs may be able to help prevent disease progression in early SSc.8 As new drugs become available, videocapillaroscopy in particular may provide a powerful research tool to help assess treatment response at all stages of disease for this illness that is currently so difficult to treat.

Ruth Jessen Hickman, MD, is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Medicine. She is a freelance medical and science writer living in Bloomington, Ind.

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References

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  9. Koenig M, Joyal F, Fritzler MJ, et al. Autoantibodies and microvascular damage are independent predictive factors for the progression of Raynaud’s phenomenon to systemic sclerosis: A twenty-year prospective study of 586 patients, with validation of proposed criteria for early systemic sclerosis. Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Dec;58(12):3902–3912.
  10. Ingegnoli F, Boracchi P, Gualtierotti R, et al. Prognostic model based on nailfold capillaroscopy for identifying Raynaud’s phenomenon patients at high risk for the development of a scleroderma spectrum disorder: PRINCE (prognostic index for nailfold capillaroscopic examination). Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Jul;58(7):2174–2182. doi:10.1002/art.23555.
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  13. Cutolo M, Ruaro B, Pizzorni C, et al. Longterm treatment with endothelin receptor antagonist bosentan and iloprost improves fingertip blood perfusion in systemic sclerosis. J Rheumatol. 2014 May;41(5):881–886.
  14. Trombetta AC, Pizzorni C, Ruaro B, et al. Effects of longterm treatment with bosentan and iloprost on nailfold absolute capillary number, fingertip blood perfusion, and clinical status in systemic sclerosis. J Rheumatol. 2016 Nov;43(11):2033–2041.
  15. van den Hoogen F, Khanna D, Fransen J, et al. 2013 classification criteria for systemic sclerosis: An American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism Collaborative Initiative. Ann Rheum Dis. 2013 Nov;72(11):1747–1755. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204424.
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  17. Hatzis C, Lerner D, Paget S, et al. Integration of capillary microscopy and dermoscopy into the rheumatology fellow curriculum. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2017 Feb 10. [Epub ahead of print]

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