{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:38:49Z","timestamp":1787027929166,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,28]],"date-time":"2023-06-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1687910400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000142","name":"Arthritis Society","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["00049"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["00049"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000142","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium (SCTC) Visiting Fellowship Award","award":["00049"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["00049"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Nailfolds of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) provide an opportunity to directly visualize microvascular remodeling in SSc. Nailfold video capillaroscopy (NVC) remains the gold standard for assessing nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC). However, access to NVC is limited by expense and expertise. This review aims to synthesize current research on other NFC devices compared to NVC. Methods: The literature search included the primary research of adult patients with SSc as defined by the 2013 ACR\/EULAR criteria. Methods of assessing NFC included stereomicroscopy\/wide-field microscopy, ophthalmoscopy, dermatoscopy, smartphone devices, and digital USB microscopy. Primary outcomes included both qualitative (normal vs. abnormal nailfolds, overall pattern recognition, presence\/absence of giant capillaries, hemorrhages, and abnormal morphology) and quantitative (capillary density and dimension) measures. Results: The search yielded 471 studies, of which 9 were included. Five studies compared NVC to dermatoscopy, two compared it to widefield\/stereomicroscopy, one to smartphone attachments, and one to USB microscopy. In dermatoscopy studies, NVC had a higher percentage of images that were interpretable (63\u201377% vs. 100%), classifiable (70% vs. 84%), or gradable (70% vs. 79.3%) across three studies. Dermatoscopy had a lower sensitivity (60.2% vs. 81.6%) and higher specificity (92.5% vs. 84.6%) compared to NVC. One stereomicroscopy study found a significant difference between methods in capillary density in limited cutaneous SSc, while another found correlations in all parameters between stereomicroscopy and NVC. One smartphone lens had good agreement with NVC on abnormal capillary morphology and density. USB microscopy was able to differentiate between SSc and healthy controls using mean capillary width but not by capillary density. Discussion: A dermatoscope may serve as a more portable and affordable screening tool to identify a normal \u201cscleroderma pattern\u201d, and images that need further corroboration by NVC. NFC parameters reported are heterogenous and the standardization of these parameters is important, especially in non-gold-standard devices.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics13132204","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,29]],"date-time":"2023-06-29T00:49:47Z","timestamp":1687999787000},"page":"2204","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Methods of Assessing Nailfold Capillaroscopy Compared to Video Capillaroscopy in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis\u2014A Critical Review of the Literature"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3064-8118","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zechen","family":"Ma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3715-6474","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Douwe Johannes","family":"Mulder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Vascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2310-8300","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Robert","family":"Gniadecki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7407-6364","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jan Willem","family":"Cohen Tervaert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammed","family":"Osman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"289","article-title":"Early detection of scleroderma-spectrum disorders by in vivo capillary microscopy: A prospective study of patients with Raynaud\u2019s phenomenon","volume":"9","author":"Maricq","year":"1982","journal-title":"J. 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