PARTICULARITIES OF NAILFOLD CAPILLAROSCOPY IN CHILDREN – LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Nailfold capillaroscopy is a simple, non-invasive and low-cost method, that is extremely important in the assessment of adults and children with definite or suspected connective tissue diseases. Peripheral microvascular changes found in nailfold capillaroscopy examination can provide useful information in differential diagnosis and therapy monitoring in majority of connective tissue diseases. Although in adult rheumatology this method has had an incredibly growing interest in the last decades, studies in paediatric population are fewer and generally, the capillaroscopic data used in children are extrapolated from adults. The normal capillaroscopic pattern in the paediatric population has some differences which must be known when performing nailfold capillaroscopy in children.

Keywords

• paediatric
• nailfold capillaroscopy
• connective tissue diseases