Image analysis of nail fold capillaries in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon

Videograph images of nail fold capillaries in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon were analyzed, and capillary patterns were defined using standardized canonical discriminant analysis. Of sixty-eight patients with Raynaud's phenomenon, forty-nine (72 percent) showed a systemic sclerosis pattern and nineteen (28 percent) showed a normal pattern. The systemic sclerosis type capillary pattern significantly correlated not only with secondary Raynaud's syndrome but also with sclerodactyly, telangiectasia, and antinuclear antibody. This study confirms the value of nail fold capillary microscopy as a noninvasive technique for the examination of the cutaneous microcirculation in vivo. We should continue to evaluate the patients with Raynaud's phenomenon who showed systemic sclerosis pattern abnormality to determine if these patients would show a progression to systemic sclerosis or not.