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Updated: Dec 23, 2025
Chemotherapy-induced Vascular Toxicity - Real-time In vivo Imaging of Vessel Impairment
Published on: January 7, 2015
Capillaroscopy: a new application for the evaluation of vascular side-effects induced by chemotherapy
Michele Cardone1, Gemma Caro2, Beatrice Amorosi3
1Section of Dermatology, Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
Background:
Cancer survivors are rising up, but this better survival is accompanied by possible treatments side-effects. In particular, cardiovascular effects are commonly reported, even if vascular damage is not necessarily connected to clinical manifestations. Periungual microcircle evaluation through capillaroscopy could identify asymptomatic patients with high risk of cerebro-cardio-vascular disease. The aim of this pivotal study was to evaluate videocapillaroscopy in patients who undergo chemotherapy, in order to understand if it could represent in future a prognostic tool to predict the risk of cardio-cerebro-vascular events.
Methods:
We conducted an open-label, uncontrolled study. Patients affected by solid tumors were enrolled. Each subject underwent a clinical evaluation and a videocapillaroscopic examination.
Results:
We selected 25 patients. Mean age was 55.48 years. Time interval between the start of chemotherapy and capillaroscopy: average 41 months. From our analysis it emerges that ectasia and hemorrhages could be a possible marker of capillary insult caused by chemotherapy.
Conclusions:
Our study showed the presence of capillaroscopic features that may be peculiar in chemotherapy-induced endothelial damage. The individuation of capillaroscopic alteration specific for chemotherapy-induced endothelial injury could be an important tool to identify patients with high cardiovascular risk.
