Evaluation of nailfold capillaries in familial Mediterranean fever patients

Nailfold capillaroscopic changes of sleep apnea patients

BACKGROUND

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) have frequent association with comorbidities and this makes it an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Not only endothelial dysfunction, but also arterial stiffening, increased inflammatory mediators, oxidative stress after hypoxemia that develops due to OSAS, cause vascular pathologies in all diameters of vessels. Nail bed capillaroscopy is a simple, noninvasive, useful method to examine microcirculation and evaluate nail bed capillary abnormalities in diseases that cause vascular damage. The aim of this study is to examine microvascular changes in the nail bed of OSAS patients by capillaroscopy.

METHODS

59 OSAS patients and 60 healthy cases (totally 119) were included. One single attended polysomnography was applied with Embla N7000 series (RemLogic Eastmed, Natus); and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen de-saturation index >4% (ODI4%), minimum oxygen saturation (SaO2 Min.), total duration of oxygen desaturation, comorbidities, body mass index (BMI), smoking habit, sleep questionnaire applications were analyzed. Nailfold capillaroscopy was performed using a digital dermoscope (Molemax II, X30) and all images were evaluated for capillary density, capillary loop enlargement, capillary tortuosity, branching vessels, micro hemorrhages, avascular areas and splinter hemorrhages.

RESULTS

The prevalence rates of all capillaroscopy findings were significantly higher in the patient group (p < 0.05). There was an inverse and moderate relationship between AHI and mean saturation (p < 0.05). A statistically significant correlation was detected between the presence of hypertension (HT) and the severity of capillary tortuosity (CT) (p = 0.002), avascular area (AA) (p = 0.004), and periungual cyanosis (PUC) (p = 0.042); also between smoking habit and intensity of capillary dilatation, enlargement dilatation-enlarged giant capillaries (CELON) (p = 0.004), CT (p = 0.018) findings. Capillary distribution (CD), CELON, CT and AA findings were significantly higher in the group with low mean saturation (p < 0.05). DM was found to be significantly higher in individuals with high Epworth Sleep Scale (ESS) (p = 0.035).

CONCLUSION

In this study; 1) the nail bed capillaroscopy was used to examine vascular damage in OSAS, and 2) irregularities detected in the distal nail bed specific to a disease have been mentioned for the first time. It has been shown that endothelial damage is particularly related to the severity of hypoxia. HT and smoking history causes endothelial damage independent of the severity of the disease and hypoxia. Also, ESS may be more determinant in the screening of sleep disorders in diabetic patients.

Familial Mediterranean fever: What associations to screen for?

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most common and best known of hereditary recurrent fever or periodic fever syndromes. It was described in 1945 and genetically characterized in 1992. It is caused by a point mutation in the MEFV gene located on the short arm of chromosome 16. It is particularly frequent among Sephardic Jews, Armenians, Turks and Middle Eastern Arabs, where the prevalence can reach 1/2000 to 1/1000.

Recent publications described its frequent association with other diseases and/or syndromes, particularly those of autoimmune, genetic, and autoinflammatory origin.

The objective of this review is to familiarize healthcare professionals with the main associations to look for in patients followed for FMF. The early detection of these associations makes it possible to improve the management and the prognosis of patients with FMF.

Nailfold capillaroscopic changes in patients with chronic viral hepatitis

BACKGROUND

Nailfold capillaroscopy is a highly sensitive, inexpensive, simple, safe, and noninvasive technique used in the investigation of the microcirculation. However, the diseases having a vasculitic component can cause changes in the nailfold capillaries like viral hepatitis, the microvascular characteristics of the nailfold area in HBV and HCV infected individuals have not been systematically investigated. In this study, we investigated possible dermoscopic differences in the vascular appearance of the nailfold capillaries and their association with the disease's clinical status.

METHOD

A hundred and forty-seven patients and 147 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The patients' group consisted of chronic viral hepatitis B (CHB: 54 cases), chronic hepatitis C (CHC: 36 cases) and carrier of hepatitis B virus infection (CRHB: 57 cases). Nailfold capillaroscopy was performed using a digital dermoscope (Molemax II, X30). All capillaroscopy images were evaluated for capillary density, capillary loop enlargement, capillary tortuosities, branching vessels, micro hemorrhages, avascular areas and splinter hemorrhages, and routine laboratory examinations of all patients were performed.

RESULTS

Statistical differences in all of the categories of capillary morphology were prominent between the capillary abnormalities of Hepatitis B and the control group, also the capillary abnormality was significant between hepatitis C and the control group (p < 0.01). None of the 147 healthy control had any nailfold capillary changes. There was a significant difference between the CHB-Control and CRHB-Control groups in all of the capillaroscopic changes (p < 0.01). The avascular area was also the most common finding in Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B infected individuals, and capillary dilatation (CD), capillary tortuosity (CT) and capillary enlargement (CE) were the major nailfold capillary changes in both of two diseases.

CONCLUSION

Nailfold capillary abnormalities are one of the extrahepatic dermatologic finding which could be a sign of the endothelial tissue damage in chronic viral hepatitis, we do not have any data about the effects of these two usual infections on the nailfold capillary morphology. This is the first study evaluating the microvasculature abnormalities of the nailfold capillaries in hepatitis B and hepatitis C infected individuals by capillaroscopic examination.

Evaluation of nailfold videocapillaroscopy in central serous chorioretinopathy

BACKGROUND

Nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) is a diagnostic tool to evaluate micro-vasculature. The presence of choroidal vasculopathy is apparent in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR).

OBJECTIVES

This study was aimed at assessing capillaroscopic nailfold findings in patients with CSCR. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study assessing NVC findings in CSCR in the literature.

METHOD

Sixty-one patients with CSCR who met the inclusion criteria, and 82 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included to the study. A videocapillaroscopy device with 200× magnification was used for capillaroscopic assessment.

RESULTS

The mean age was 48.79 ± 11.15 years in the patient group (13 female, 48 male) and 49.38 ± 9.02 years in the control group (17 female, 65 male). The age and gender were comparable in the patient and control groups (p = 0.727 and p = 0.933, respectively). The capillary count was found to be decreased in the patient group compared to control group. No significant correlation was found between capillary count and choroidal thickness (p = 0.551; r = -0.081). In the patient group, the frequencies of major capillaroscopic findings including capillary ectasia, aneurysm, micro-hemorrhage, avascular area, tortuosity, neo-formation, bizarre capillary, bushy capillary, meander capillary and extravasation were found to be increased in the patient group. However, no significant correlation was detected between capillaroscopic findings and disease type and presence of attacks.

CONCLUSIONS

This is first study in which nailfold capillary assessment was performed in patients with CSCR, and we detected major capillaroscopic changes. These findings suggest that CSCR can be a systemic microvasculopathy. Further studies are needed to clarify the diagnostic and prognostic value of capillaroscopy in CSCR.

Choroidal Thickness Changes in the Acute Attack Period in Patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate choroidal thickness changes during acute attacks of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Methods: Fifty patients with FMF and 50 healthy controls were included. Choroidal thickness of each participant was measured at the foveola and horizontal nasal and temporal quadrants at 500-µm intervals to 1,500 µm from the foveola using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. White blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum levels of fibrinogen and C-reactive protein (CRP) were evaluated. The clinical findings (peritonitis, arthritis and pleuritis) were noted. Results: Choroidal thickness was significantly thicker at all measurement points in FMF patients compared to healthy controls during an acute attack (p < 0.05). There were positive correlations between the choroidal thickness and ESR, fibrinogen and, particularly, CRP levels. Clinical findings did not change the choroidal thickness significantly (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Increased choroidal thickness in the acute phase of FMF is possibly related to the inflammatory edematous changes in the choroid.

[Periungueal capillaroscopy: an easy and reliable method to evaluate all microcirculation diseases]

Periungueal capillaroscopy is a simple and reliable non-invasive technique allowing evaluation of cutaneous microcirculation. It was promoted for decades in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon in order to differentiate between the benign primary Raynaud's phenomenon and the secondary form in connective tissue diseases, especially systemic sclerosis. Nevertheless, the value of this procedure has also been shown in numerous pathologies such as diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. This literature review points to the versatility of this useful exam and its results in a large spectrum of diseases with microvascular involvement.