• S Sato, K Takehara, Y Soma, T Tsuchida, and Y Ishibashi.
• Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
• J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 1993 Feb 1; 28 (2 Pt 1): 198-203.

BackgroundThe early detection of scleroderma spectrum disorders (SSD) is important.ObjectiveOur purpose was to determine the prevalence of nailfold bleeding in SSD.MethodsWe examined patients for nailfold bleeding in the following three groups: (1) 81 patients with SSD including 50 patients with scleroderma, 10 with mixed connective tissue disease, and 21 with Raynaud's phenomenon having specific antinuclear antibody (ANA); (2) 99 patients with other connective tissue diseases or primary Raynaud's phenomenon; and (3) 200 patients with common skin diseases.ResultsThe frequency of nailfold bleeding was significantly higher in SSD (75.3%) than in other connective tissue diseases (12.1%) and in controls (3.0%). The presence of nailfold bleeding in two or more fingers showed a 98.3% specificity for SSD. Among the patients with SSD, the incidence of nailfold bleeding in scleroderma, mixed connective tissue disease, and Raynaud's phenomenon with specific ANA was similar. Nailfold bleeding strongly correlated with the presence of anticentromere antibody.ConclusionThe presence of nailfold bleeding is useful for the early detection of SSD.

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