{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T18:01:33Z","timestamp":1776103293660,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]],"date-time":"2021-10-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1633824000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Volleyball players experience repetitive stress that involves their hands and, in particular, their fingers. Literature reports that repetitive trauma can lead to local vascular abnormalities, such as reduced capillarization and lower resting blood flow. These anomalies could be related to the presence of dysfunctional endothelium. The aim of this study is to correlate the capillaroscopic findings by nailfold video capillaroscopy (NVC) to volleyball practice in order to early detect possible anomalies and perform an adequate follow-up to avoid damages that could negatively affect sport practice and the players\u2019 health status. In this study, 38 subjects were enrolled, 19 volleyball players and 19 healthy non-players as a comparison group. In almost all the players, we found capillaroscopic alterations of the \u201caspecific pattern\u201d type without substantial gender differences. We may assume that the repeated traumas involving players\u2019 fingers can negatively modify their microcirculation. Based on these observations, it could be a desirable clinical practice to screen professional volleyball players with NVC in order to implement preventive strategies aimed at protecting the health of athletes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph182010601","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]],"date-time":"2021-10-10T21:23:25Z","timestamp":1633901005000},"page":"10601","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Capillaroscopic Evidence of Microvascular Damage in Volleyball Players"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Maria Maddalena","family":"Sirufo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L\u2019Aquila, 67100 L\u2019Aquila, Italy"},{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Center for the diagnosis and treatment of Osteoporosis, AUSL 04 Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1299-7277","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandra","family":"Catalogna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L\u2019Aquila, 67100 L\u2019Aquila, Italy"},{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Center for the diagnosis and treatment of Osteoporosis, AUSL 04 Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1825-9355","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martina","family":"Raggiunti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L\u2019Aquila, 67100 L\u2019Aquila, Italy"},{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Center for the diagnosis and treatment of Osteoporosis, AUSL 04 Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"De Pietro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L\u2019Aquila, 67100 L\u2019Aquila, Italy"},{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Center for the diagnosis and treatment of Osteoporosis, AUSL 04 Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9043-5686","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanni","family":"Galeoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Neurosciences Sapienza, University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"IRCCS Neuromed, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Enrica Maria","family":"Bassino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L\u2019Aquila, 67100 L\u2019Aquila, Italy"},{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Center for the diagnosis and treatment of Osteoporosis, AUSL 04 Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lia","family":"Ginaldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L\u2019Aquila, 67100 L\u2019Aquila, Italy"},{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Center for the diagnosis and treatment of Osteoporosis, AUSL 04 Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4253-1312","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Massimo","family":"De Martinis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L\u2019Aquila, 67100 L\u2019Aquila, Italy"},{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Center for the diagnosis and treatment of Osteoporosis, AUSL 04 Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2021, July 27). 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