LAUSR

Background Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) is frequently associated with the presence of scleroderma or other connective tissue diseases (CTD). Identify the presence of secondary RP is important to perform an adequate therapeutic management and to achieve the early control of these patients. Nailfold capillaroscopy is safe, economic, easy to perform and has proven to be useful in identifying patients with secondary RP. Objectives To assess a long-term follow-up primary RP patient’s cohort. Methods Retrospective observational study of a wide and unselected series of patients diagnosed as primary RP from a single university hospital from January 2012 to December 2018. Patients were classified as primary RP after the presence of CTD at the onset was excluded. Results We studied 248 patients (210 women/38 men), with a mean age of 46.3±15.2 years (range 15-88). After a mean follow-up period of 57.2±21.6 months, 9 (3.6%) patients were diagnosed of a CTD. The remaining 239 (96.4%) patients continued classified as primary RP. The main pathologies observed after follow-up were: Scleroderma/Systemic sclerosis (n=3), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (n=3), Rheumatoid arthritis (n=1), Sjogren’s syndrome (n=2). The main capillaroscopic patterns observed were: Normal (n=175), Unspecific (n=64), Scleroderma pattern (n=3) and suggestive of other rheumatic diseases pattern (n=6). All the patients who developed a CTD during follow-up showed changes at successive nailfold capillaroscopic examinations. 28 of 239 patients who remained primary RP showed minor changes at successive nailfold capillaroscopy. The main capillaroscopic changes detected on this group were: Presence of capillary tortuosity (n=6), presence of a decreased capillary density (2) and the presence of capillary bleeding (n=20). Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were positive at he onset in 46 patients (16.9%) and after follow-up in 44 (17.7%) patients. Conclusion After a mean follow-up period next to 5 years, most of our primary RP patients remained free of CTD. A minority of our patients showed changes at nailfold capillaroscopy exam or positivity of ANA. Disclosure of Interests None declared