Page 22 - MRS Abstracts March 2023

An Audit of the nailfold Capillaroscopy service in the Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester
DrSalamatUllah KetteringGeneralHospital.
Dr Jeremy Royale Consultant Rheumatologist, Leicester Royal Infirmary
Introduction:
Nailfold Capillaroscopy is a valuable diagnostic tool for detecting capillary abnormalities within the nailfold in patients with Raynaud’s phenomenon in whom an underlying connective tissue disease is suspected. The most specific association is with Systemic Sclerosis.
Capillaroscopy forms part of the diagnostic criterion of EULAR and ACR for systemic sclerosis and could be valuable in the early diagnosis of the condition and the pattern divided into early, active or late depending on the changes seen.
We performed an audit on first year of capillaroscopy service in Leicester Royal infirmary between March 2021-October 2022 to investigate the diagnostic rate, discharge rate of patients of low-risk patients as well as average waiting time for capillaroscopy service.
Methods:
We performed this audit in 2022 using a database of procedures performed between March 2021- October 2022.Each patient’s clinic letters were reviewed on referral as well as post procedure clinic attendances using Trust electronic record. We studied pre procedure diagnosis, antibody positivity, abnormal findings and final diagnosis post procedure and if the patient was discharged following procedure.
Results:
108 patients were reviewed in the clinic. The main indication for referral was for possible Systemic Sclerosis and to differentiate between primary and secondary Raynaud’s. Out of 108 patients, 16 patients had positive scan consistent with scleroderma pattern, 58 patients had normal scans while 34 patients had non-specific scans. Out of 16 patients with positive scans, 6 scans showed early