Relationship between nailfold capillary abnormalities and vestibular dysfunction in systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the vestibular dysfunction in a cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and to correlate the findings with disease parameters and microvascular involvement.

METHODS

Vestibular affection was assessed in 30 female SSc patients and 29 age-matched healthy females subjects by using the computerized dynamic platform posturography (CDP). Assessment of microvasculature was done by nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC). The main clinical correlates of disease, such as renal function, skin, articular and lung involvement, were evaluated by clinical and instrumental investigations.

RESULTS

Subtle vestibular dysfunction was detected in 33% of SSc patients. They exhibited significant decrease in their vestibular ratio values compared to controls (P=0.01). There was a statistical significant association of vestibular affection with both Rodnan's skin score and vascular severity score. Moreover a significant association was found between vestibular dysfunction and NVC patterns. On the other hand, no correlation was observed between vestibular impairment with age, disease duration, disease subsets, autoantibodies and the other clinical disease parameters.

CONCLUSION

Our results showed an evidence of vestibular impairment in patients with SSc. Vestibular dysfunction positively correlates with vascular severity score as assessed by NVC.