NAILFOLD CAPILLAROSCOPY FINDINGS IN ANKYL OSING-SPONDYLITIS - ABNORMALITIES ARE FREQUENT, WITHOUT DIAGNOSTIC OR PROGNOSIS VALUE

Vascular involvement is seldom reported in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) . In this study, microcirculation was evaluated by nailfold capillaros copy in 32 defined AS patients compared to a control group (C) of 14 s ciatica. Capillary findings were divided into five groups: normal, min or dystrophies, edema, microangiopathy, stagnation. Capillaroscopic ab normalities were more frequent in SA as compared to C, for edema (40% vs 7%) and microangiopathy (15% vs 0%), P = 0.01. There were neither c linical nor biological differences between AS patients with and withou t microangiopathy. Capillaroscopy abnormalities seem frequent in AS an d may be secondary to an immune complex mechanism.