Nail fold capillaroscopic findings in iranian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

ABSTRACT

Background: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a progressive autoimmune disease with a wide range of morphological and functional changes in microscopic examination of small blood vessels. Identification of vascular diseases at early stage, plays an essential role in the prevention of its' vascular complications. Nailfold capillaroscopy [NFC] is a non-invasive, easy, painless, and accurate method for evaluation of microcirculation and could be used for this purpose. The vast majority of studies on capillaroscopy in lupus patients have shown that changes are not specified to lupus -unlike Systemic Sclerosis- and are more likely to overlap with other diseases. Therefore, it was decided to check capillaroscopic changes and evaluate morphological changes and capillary structure in terms of quality and quantity in lupus patients