Study of Peripheral Microcirculation Assessed by Nailfold Video-Capillaroscopy and Association with Markers of Endothelial Dysfunction and Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that primarily affects synovial joints and is associated with increased cardiovascular (CV) mortality and morbidity. This association is only partially attributed to the presence of classic CV disease risk factors, and is strongly associated with characteristics of disease itself namely systemic chronic inflammation and autoimmune activation. Growing evidence suggests that microvascular endothelial dysfunction contributes to the initiation and progression of vascular disease. Nailfold capillaroscopy is a non-invasive method that evaluates the morphology and the structure of nailfold capillaries. Extension of this method is the Nailfold Videocapillaroscopy (NVC), which provides the possibility of combining functional and anatomical study of peripheral microcirculation. The present cross-sectional study aims to evaluate using NVC the peripheral microcirculation in adult patients with RA and investigate the associations between structural and functional indices of digital capillaries with markers of atherosclerosis.