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DENOTHE Center, Florence, Italy.
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Editor’s note: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multiorgan disease characterized by widespread fibrosis, activation of immune cells, production of autoantibodies, and injury to vascular and microvascular structures. It is likely that prolonged endothelial cell perturbation and activation, induced by ischemia and reperfusion, leads to dysfunction and irreversible loss of integrity of the microvascular system. Autologous hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a new treatment for patients with severe diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) refractory to conventional therapies. The aim of the current study was to evaluate improvements in microvasculature after HSCT using nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC), a diagnostic and follow-up parameter useful for determining the severity, activity, and stage of SSc microvascular damage.