Skip to main content
. 2021 Apr 23;118(16):273–280. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.m2021.0023

Table 2. Differentiation between primary and secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP).

Primary RP Secondary RP
Associated disorder (underlying disease) No Yes
Age at onset Adolescence, young adulthood Childhood, old age
Pattern of clinical manifestation Seasonally variable severity; typical three color change Variable; often tends towards permanent acral ischemia
Arterial stenosis/ occlusion No Frequent
Digital ulcers No Frequent
Nailfold capillaroscopy Normal findings or nonspecific morphological changes Depending on underlying disease, nonspecific morphological changes or typical disease pattern (e.g., scleroderma pattern)
Autoantibodies Negative or low-titer without detection of specific antigens (nonspecific antibodies) Positive, with antigen detection (specific antibodies)