Capillaroscopy abnormalities in relation to disease activity in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus

Juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (jSLE) has a more severe disease onset and clinical course in comparison with the adult SLE. The aims of this study were to investigate in jSLE the prevalence of capillaroscopic patterns, to assess any association between capillaroscopy and clinical parameters and, to monitor the capillaroscopy changes over time. A total of 62 SLE patients, 35 jSLE (mean age 13.2 years) and 27 adult-onset SLE (mean age 29.1 years) were studied. In this study non-specific capillary abnormalities were observed in the majority of jSLE patients and the severity of the overall capillaroscopic abnormalities seems to be related to disease activity. Moreover, this longitudinal study allowed the observation of the dynamic feature of capillaroscopic pattern in these patients. Particularly, the presence of a scleroderma-like capillaroscopic pattern should be considered a red flag for the potential development of clinical manifestations suggestive for scleroderma spectrum disorders. Capillaroscopy may be considered a useful examination in an overall clinical assessment and an additional help in the assessment of disease activity in these patients.