Table 3.
Comparison of nailfold video capillaroscopy in each SSc patient group
| non-PH (n = 13) |
exercise PH (N = 22) |
PH (N = 15) |
p-value | IPAH (N = 5) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualitative assessment | |||||
| ‘Non-scleroderma pattern’ (%) | 4 (30.8) | 2 (9.1) | 1 (6.7) | 0.19 | 5 (100) |
| ‘Scleroderma pattern’ (%) | 9 (69.2) | 20 (90.9) | 14 (93.3) | 0 (0) | |
| Early NVC pattern (%) | 3 (33.3) | 8 (40.0) | 3 (20.0) | 0 (0) | |
| Active NVC pattern (%) | 5 (55.6) | 5 (25.0) | 5 (33.3) | 0.35 | 0 (0) |
| Late NVC pattern (%) | 1 (11.1) | 7 (35.0) | 7 (46.7) | 0 (0) | |
| Quantitative assessment | |||||
| Capillary density (/mm) | 7.2 ± 1.6 | 5.0 ± 1.4 | 4.9 ± 1.9 | 0.001 | 8.6 ± 0.5 |
| number of patients with giant capillaries (%) | 6 (46.2) | 14 (63.6) | 12 (80.0) | 0.19 | 0 (0) |
| number of patients with abnormal morphology (%) | 6 (46.2) | 13 (59.1) | 10 (66.7) | 0.54 | 0 (0) |
| numberof patients with microhaemorrhages (%) | 6 (46.2) | 12 (54.6) | 10 (66.7) | 0.54 | 0 (0) |
Values are reported as mean ± SD. Statistical differences were determined using the Kruskal–Wallis and Fisher’s exact tests. P < 0.05 was considered significant
SSc, systemic sclerosis; PH, pulmonary hypertension; exercise PH, exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension; NVC, nailfold video capillaroscopy