title: Nailfold capillary morphological characteristics of hand-arm vibration syndrome: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of nailfold capillaroscopy associated with hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
  
  
  
  In total, 113 male gold miners were recruited: 35 workers who were chronically exposed to vibration and developed vibration-induced white finger were defined as the HAVS group, 39 workers who were exposed to vibration but did not have HAVS were classified as the vibration-exposed controls (VEC) group, and 39 workers without vibration exposure were categorised as the non-VEC (NVEC) group. Video capillaroscopy was used to capture images of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers of both hands. The following nailfold capillary characteristics were included: number of capillaries/mm, avascular areas, haemorrhages and enlarged capillaries. The experiments were carried out in the same winter. All characteristics were evaluated under blinded conditions.
  
  
  
  Significant differences in all morphological characteristics existed between the groups (p<0.05). Avascular areas in the HAVS, VEC and NVEC groups appeared in 74.3%, 43.6% and 25.0% of participants, respectively. A higher percentage of participants had haemorrhages in the HAVS group (65.7%) compared with the other groups (VEC: 7.7% and NVEC: 7.5%). The number of capillaries/mm, input limb width, output limb width, apical width, and ratio of output limb and input limb all had more than 70% sensitivity or specificity of their cut-off value.
  
  
  
  Nailfold capillary characteristics, especially the number of capillaries/mm, avascular areas, haemorrhages, output limb width, input limb width and apical width alterations, revealed significant associations with HAVS.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Province Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: QingSong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Province Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: GuiPing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Province Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Province Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: HanSheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Province Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: HongYing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Province Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: DanYing
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Yantaishan Hospital, Yantai, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: MaoGong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Province Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Yantaishan Hospital, Yantai, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Province Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: MaoSheng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005385:Fingers / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D053421:Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D020678:Microscopic Angioscopy; D008875:Middle Aged; D008906:Mining; D009262:Nails / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D014732:Vibration / Q000009:adverse effects*
keywords: Hand-arm vibration syndrome; Nailfold capillaroscopy; Vibration-induced white finger; vascular injuries