RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Association Between Nailfold Capillaroscopy Findings and Pulmonary Function Tests in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.140276
DO 10.3899/jrheum.140276
A1 Ivan Castellví
A1 Carmen Pilar  Simeón-Aznar
A1 Mónica Sarmiento
A1 Ana Fortuna
A1 Mercedes Mayos
A1 Carme Geli
A1 César Diaz-Torné
A1 Patricia Moya
A1 Josep Maria  De Llobet
A1 Jordi Casademont
YR 2014
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2014/11/11/jrheum.140276.abstract
AB Objective To determine whether there is an association between different capillaroscopic findings and pulmonary function tests in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods We did a retrospective observational study in a cohort of patients with SSc and early SSc. Patients with at least 1 nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) magnified 120× were included. Pathological findings were giant capillaries, angiogenesis, and density loss. Findings were compared with lung function values: percent expected value of forced vital capacity (FVC), DLCO, and FVC/DLCO ratio. Other variables collected were sex and SSc type, and the presence of digital ulcers (DU), interstitial lung disease (ILD), scleroderma renal crisis, and/or pulmonary hypertension (PH). Results Of 136 patients with SSc, 85 had undergone an NVC. The frequency of ILD, DU, and PH was 24.1%, 28.7%, and 17.2%, respectively. Data analysis showed that patients with density loss had worse FVC% (86.91 ± 19.42 vs 101.13 ± 16.06, p < 0.01) and DLCO% (71.43 ± 21.19 vs 85.9 ± 19.81, p < 0.01) compared to those without. Conclusion Patients with loss of density present worse FVC and DLCO values. Prospective studies are warranted to determine whether NVC is useful for studying pulmonary function in SSc.