Reporting microvascular changes in nail fold capillaroscopy: A narrative review

نویسندگان

1 Rheumatology Fellow, Loghman Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Rheumatology, Loghman Rheumatology Department, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Radiology, Taleghani Hospital Research Development Unit, Department of Radiology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

doi
10.22631/rr.2016.40685
چکیده

Nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC) is a useful and noninvasive procedure for evaluating patients with signs and symptoms of microvascular disturbances such as Raynaud‟s phenomenon, either primary or secondary, with the ability to differentiate between the two. It is widely used for the diagnosis of systemic sclerosis (SSc), and the quantitative nature of the NFC report allows the monitoring of vascular changes in these patients and predicts their prognosis during follow-up visits. Five types of abnormal findings are reported with nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC), each having a specific definition and significance. The main goal of this article is to give a comprehensive review of the most widely accepted method of performing and reporting this procedure.