Nailfold capillaroscopy in Behçet disease, performed using videodermoscopy.

BACKGROUND: Nailfold capillaroscopy is used for the identification of microvascular involvement in many rheumatic and extrarheumatic diseases.

AIM: To determine the nailfold capillary changes in patients with Behçet disease (BD) by videodermoscopy, i.e. nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC).

METHODS: We used a videodermatoscope (Molemax II, × 30 magnification) to perform nailfold capillaroscopy on 40 patients with BD and 40 healthy controls (HC). All nailfold images were evaluated for capillary density, distribution and morphology, assessing features such as enlargement or tortuosity of the capillaries, microhaemorrhages and avascular areas.

RESULTS: Enlarged capillaries were detected in 14 patients, microhaemorrhages in 6 patients, and avascular area in 3 patients. There was a statistically significant difference between patients with BD and healthy controls for capillary dilatation and microhaemorrhages (P < 0.05). Capillaroscopic changes were not associated with sex or clinical characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS: Using NVC, nailfold capillary changes were apparent in patients with BD, but not in HC. NVC could be a useful technique for evaluating microvascular damage in BD.