Summary
The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of scleroderma capillary pattern (SD-pattern) in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon. Thirty patients with a capillaroscopy examination suggestive of scleroderma (megacapillaries and/or avascularity) but without clinical criteria of scleroderma (ARA criteria) were reevaluated 6 years after the initial clinical and capillaroscopy examinations. SD-pattern abnormalities were classified according to a semiquantitative method. Eight out of the 28 evaluated patients (28%) developed a scleroderma spectrum disorder (SDS). The presence of avascularity and/or a mean of more than two megacapillaries digit greatly enhanced the percentage of evolution toward SDS (70% / 88% respectively). Most of the patients with few enlarged capillaries and no capillary rarefaction at entry had primary acrocyanosis (11/15). None of them developed SDS. The microangiopathy disappeared during the follow-up period in most of these patients (14/15). These results confirm the prognostic value of SD-pattern capillary abnormalities for SDS. Primary acrocyanosis, a benign clinical entity should be considered in presence of few megacapillaries and without capillary rarefaction.
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Zufferey, P., Depairon, M., Chamot, A.M. et al. Prognostic significance of nailfold capillary microscopy in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon and scleroderma-pattern abnormalities a six-year follow-up study. Clin Rheumatol 11, 536–541 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02283115
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02283115