Evaluation of Capillaroscopy Findings in Patients Presenting with Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP): A Retrospective Study

Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is a discoloration of the fingers due to abnormal vasoconstriction in the digital arteries and cutaneous arterioles in response to cold or emotional stress. The study included patients who presented to a tertiary rheumatology clinic with RP between September 2022 and April 2023 and underwent nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC). Of the included patients, 34 (57.6%) were diagnosed with inflammatory rheumatic disease (IRD) and 25 (42.4%) with primary RP. When analysing antibodies, the most common antibody was antinuclear antibody (ANA) (n=39, 66.1%), and most of them were positive with a low titer (n=22, 37.3%). When comparing patients with and without IRD, the capillary density of ≥7 per 1 millimetre was sufficient in all patients in the group without IRD. There was a decrease in capillary density (50 μm) (p=0.005). In the IRD group, 14 (41.18%) patients had a scleroderma (SCL) pattern and 20 (58.82%) had a non-SCL pattern. In the non-IRD group, all but two patients had a non-SCL pattern. Age, ANA positivity, high ANA titer, presence of giant capillaries and SCL pattern had a positive significant discriminatory effect (p