Nailfold videocapillaroscopy results in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

We aimed to analyse the nailfold capillaryscopy findings morphologically and examine their relationship with disease activity and demographic characteristics in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In accordance with the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria, 201 patients diagnosed with Romatoiad artrit (RA) and 50 healthy controls were included. We analysed capillaroscopic abnormalities such asmegacapillaries, haemorrhages, ramifications and avascular areas in patients affected with rheumatoid arthritis. The findings in our study are as follows: in 45.77% of the RA patients, there were nonspecific capillaryscopy findings. When compared to control group, the incidence of tortuosity, dilated capillary and bushy capillary was higher in RA patients (p values, respectively, 0.110, 0.330, 0.440 and 0.516). In RA patients with Raynaud's phenomenon, the incidence of nonspecific capillaryscopy findings was higher. While there is a weak relationship between tortuosity and the duration of disease, no significant relation was detected between capillaryscopy findings and parameters such as RF, anti-CCP positivity and disease activity score (DAS28). When compared to controls, we have detected that RA patients have more nonspecific capillaryscopic findings. We could not find a relationship between nonspecific capillaryscopic findings and RA'a clinical findings and laboratory parameters. There is a need for a long-term wider-scale follow-up study to investigate whether there is a capillaryscopic pattern that can be correlated with RA's clinical findings.