title: Evaluation of nail fold capillaroscopy findings in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Some patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) experience Raynaud's phenomenon. The objective of this study was to clarify the relationships between nail fold capillaroscopy findings and clinical presentations of PBC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 70 patients with PBC and 57 patients with non-PBC liver diseases, including 44 patients with chronic viral hepatic disease, eight with autoimmune hepatitis and five with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, were included in this study. Nail fold capillaroscopy findings were classified as normal or abnormal and were further graded as mild, moderate or severe, and the relationships between frequency of abnormal blood vessel and their clinical presentations were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of abnormal nail fold capillaroscopy findings was significantly higher in PBC patients (54.3%) than in patients with non-PBC liver disease (13.8%) (P < 0.01). These abnormal findings observed in PBC patients were graded as mild in 15 patients, moderate in 18 patients and severe in five patients. Significantly more PBC patients with abnormal capillaroscopy findings (19/38, 50%) were positive for anticentromere antibody than were those with normal capillaroscopy findings (3/32, 9.4%) (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PBC patients had significantly higher frequency of abnormal nail fold capillaroscopy findings than did patients with non-PBC liver disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Rheumatology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Monoe
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kazumichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanno
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Hiromasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohira
keywords: Raynaud's phenomenon; anticentromere antibody; nail fold capillaroscopy; primary biliary cirrhosis