Dermatoscopic assessment of nailfold capillary abnormalities in Behçet's disease and correlation of the findings with disease activity and severity

Abstract

Background: A small number of studies used nailfold capillaroscopy (NC) in the evaluation of nailfold capillary changes in Behçet's disease (BD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics and frequency of nailfold capillary changes in BD by dermatoscopy and videodermatoscopy and to develop a scoring system for those capillary changes to predict the activity and severity of the disease. Methods: We performed NC on 40 BD patients and 20 healthy controls with dermatoscopy and videodermatoscopy. Capillary morphology, distribution, and density were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. We also assessed the activity and severity of the disease with BD Current Activity Form and BD Severity Score Classification and evaluated the relation of these scores with morphology scores and capillary density. Results: Capillary morphologic alterations were encountered significantly more in BD group (P < 0.05). Loss of continuity in capillary loops and irregularity of capillary distribution were significantly more frequent in BD group compared to healthy controls (P = 0.003 and P < 0.001). Morphology score was significantly higher in BD patients compared to control group (P < 0.001); however, we could not detect a significant relation between capillary morphology and density and the activity and severity of BD. Conclusion: Although we could not demonstrate a significant relation between capillary changes and the activity and severity of BD, we consider that NC performed with dermatoscopy can reflect the presence and extent of microvascular involvement and thereby might have diagnostic and prognostic value in BD.

Keywords

• Behçet's disease
• dermatoscopy
• nailfold capillaroscopy
• vascular disorders
• videocapillaroscopy