Nailfold capillaroscopy assessment of microcirculation abnormalities and endothelial dysfunction in children with primary or secondary Raynaud syndrome.

Raynaud syndrome (RS) manifests as episodes of transient spasms of peripheral blood vessels, most often in response to cold. The reason of that symptom (primary RS (pRS)) usually cannot be found but may be accompanied by some autoimmune diseases (secondary RS (sRS)). In this study, we assessed microcapillary status and serum concentrations of chosen cytokines, adhesive molecules, and nitric oxide (NO) in patients with pRS and sRS in comparison with healthy children. Eighty-six patients with RS were enrolled into the study, including 52 with pRS and 34 with sRS. The control group consisted of 29 healthy children. A decrease in myorelaxative and anticoagulant abilities was observed, with simultaneous prevalence of vasopressor substances and procoagulative activity. Therefore, several important factors such as endothelin-1 (ET-1), E-selectin (E-sel), interleukin-18 (IL-18), and nitrogen oxide (NO) were also analyzed. Two types of capillaroscopy status were determined: normal and microangiopathic. There was a significant relationship between presence of microangiopathy and higher serum ET-1 (p = 0.018) and E-sel (p = 0.021) levels. Similarly, we have found a correlation between presence of ANA and higher ET-1 (p = 0.005), but not E-sel (p = 0.241). In patients with pRS, we found significant relationship between ANA and higher ET-1 (p = 0.008). No such relations were observed in sRS patients. Our data indicates that external factor-induced vasoconstrictive effects dominated in pRS, whereas in sRS in the course of connective tissue diseases, it was accompanied by coexistent vasodilation due to endothelial dysfunction. The latter phenomenon is at least partially dependent on insufficient NO release.

Mixed connective tissue disease presenting with progressive scleroderma symptoms in a 10-year-old girl.

Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a systemic inflammatory disease affecting connective tissue with the underlying autoimmunological mechanism. The core of MCTD is an appearance of symptoms of several other inflammatory diseases of connective tissue - systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic scleroderma, poly- or dermatomyositis, rheumatoid arthritis at the same time, accompanied by a high level of anti-ribonucleoprotein antibodies (anti-U1RNP). The disease was described more than 40 years ago by Sharp et al. During recent years, many efforts to better understand clinical and serological features of MCTD have been made. Diagnosis of MCTD can be difficult. Obligatory international diagnostic criteria are required to be fulfilled. Several versions of such criteria have been proposed, but the most widely used one was described by Kasukawa. There is no consensus about treatment - a choice of drugs depends on symptoms. We present a case of a 10-year-old girl with sclerodactyly and trophic damages of fingers accompanied by symptoms of Raynaud's phenomenon. After an almost 2-year course of the disease, a diagnosis of MCTD has been established.