RESUMEN
The frequency of the development of clinically significant changes in the nail plates was estimated in the present study that included 454 patients presenting with psoriasis and 140 patients with eczema characterized by the localization of the pathological process on the skin of the wrists and/or feet. The changes in the nail plates were shown to occur in 56,2% of the patients with psoriasis and in 90,7% of those suffering from eczema. The capillaroscopy of the microvessels feeding the affected nails was carried out to determine the type of the capillaroscopic picture. The patients with onychopathies were largely characterized by the spastic-atonic type of the changes in the microcirculatory bed. The changes of this type were documented in 86,5% of the patients with psoriatic onychopathy and in 83,9% of those presenting with onychodystrophy associated with eczema. The effectiveness of the combined treatment including the application of interferential currents was estimated in comparison with that of standard therapy. It was shown that the use of interferential currents for the treatment of the patients with psoriasis results in a decrease of the severity index of nail damage by 47,8% in comparison with 18,1% in the case of standard medicamentous therapy. Similarly, a 77,2 and 51,3% decrease of the index of severity was documented in the patients with eczema after their treatment with the use of interferential currents and standard medicamentous therapy, respectively.