Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex disease which consists of autoimmunity, fibrosis and vasculopathy. Most organ involvement in SSc patients is related to progressive fibrosis. Once fibrosis progresses, it becomes impossible to maintain a normal structure histologically. Therefore, treatment in cases with advanced fibrosis is quite difficult. On the other hand, the role of vasculopathy is clear in the pathogenesis of SSc. Lethal organ disorders of SSc, such as pulmonary arterial hypertension and scleroderma renal crisis, include severe signs of advanced vasculopathy. Nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) is a safe and crucial method for evaluating microvasculopathy. The morphological changes and their progressions can be detected and scored by NVC. Indeed, the microvascular damage and dysfunction represent early markers of systemic sclerosis. Systemic sclerosis has clinical heterogeneity and the use of NVC has been validated to help with early diagnosis and even treatment. Finally, NVC may be useful in evaluating the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis and its progression in connection with other early biomarkers and functional tools.
Keywords: Systemic sclerosis; microvascular changes; nailfold videocapillaroscopy; semiquantitative assessment; vasculopathy.