The Implication of Videocapillaroscopy in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis

Videocapillaroscopy is an easy, noninvasive examination method that detects morphological microvascular abnormalities, such as nailfold capillaries. This method has a low cost, has high sensitivity and specificity, has reproductibility and the results can be easily interpreted.

Besides its importance in the evaluation of Raynaud’s phenomenon and systemic sclerosis, nailfold capillaroscopy may play an important role in the diagnosis, evaluation and prognosis of other rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Because there are not enough data, currently, capillaroscopy is not routinely used in these patients.

The aim of this review is to present the implications of the videocapillaroscopy in rheumatic diseases, other than systemic sclerosis, in order to promote this method as a routine investigation in rheumatic patients.