Characteristics of nailfold videocapillaroscopy and antinuclear antibodies in a cohort of patients with systemic autoimmune disease with Raynaud's phenomenon

Introduction: Between 15 and 20% of patients with Raynaud's phenomenon will progress to a systemic autoimmune disease. The presence of autoantibodies or capillaroscopy alterations are fundamental for early diagnosis. Objectives: To determine the characteristics of nailfold videocapillaroscopy and antinuclear antibodies in a cohort of patients with systemic autoimmune disease. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in subjects with Raynaud's phenomenon. These were evaluated with videocapillaroscopy and antinuclear antibodies. The qualitative variables were described with absolute and relative frequencies. The quantitative variables, according to the distribution of data, were reported as mean or median, with standard deviation and interquartile range, respectively. Results: The study included 58 individuals, of which 91.4% were women. The mean age was 40.9 ± 14.1 years. Antinuclear antibodies were positive in 41 subjects. The most common pattern was speckled (41.5%), with a median dilution of 1:640 (interquartile range 1:320-1:1,280). A systemic autoimmune disease was found in 10 (19.2%) patients, 8 of them with systemic sclerosis. The most frequent capillary alterations were: mega-capillaries (n = 10), micro-haemorrhages (n = 10), and avascular zones (n = 8). Conclusions: In this group of patients with Raynaud's phenomenon subjected to videocapillaroscopy, a diagnosis of systemic autoimmune disease was made in a similar percentage to that reported in the literature. A higher dilution of antinuclear antibodies was found than that described.