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Objectives: Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) is characterized by intense vasospasm of the digital arteries that causes characteristic color changes in fingers. There are two main types of RP: Primary RP (PRP) and Secondary RP (SRP). PRP is a benign condition. Whilst SRP is associated with several connective tissue diseases (CTD), in particular systemic sclerosis (SSc). The objectives of this report were: to present a short review on morphological (nailfold videocapillaroscopy, NVC) and functional techniques (laser tools and thermography) that allow for a correct diagnosis and treatment of RP and to investigate blood perfusion (BP) by laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA) in different skin areas of hands and face in PRP, SRP to SSc, and healthy subjects (CNT). Methods: 31 PRP patients (LeRoy criteria), 70 SRP to SSc (ACR/EULAR criteria) and 68 CNT were enrolled. BP was assessed by LASCA at the level different areas of hands and face. NVC was performed to distinguish between PRP and SRP, and to detect the proper pattern of nailfold microangiopathy in SSc patients. Results: Both PRP and SRP showed a statistically significant lower BP than CNT at the level of fingertips ( p < 0.0001), periungual ( p < 0.0001), palmar aspect of 3rd finger ( p < 0.0001), and palm areas ( p < 0.0001). Moreover, BP was significantly lower in PRP than in SRP to SSc with the “Early” pattern of microangiopathy in the same areas as above ( p < 0.04). Conclusion: By considering a small cohort of patients, BP of hands was found lower in PRP than in SSc patients with the “Early” NVC pattern of microangiopathy.

Pregnancy requires a special management in women with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (RDs), with the aim of controlling maternal disease activity and avoiding fetal complications. Despite the heterogeneous course of RDs during pregnancy, their impact on pregnancy largely relates to the extent of active inflammation at the time of conception. Therefore, accurate evaluation of disease activity is crucial for the best management of pregnant patients. Nevertheless, there are limitations in using conventional measures of disease activity in pregnancy, as some items included in these instruments can be biased by symptoms or by physiological changes related to pregnancy and the pregnancy itself may influence laboratory parameters used to assess disease activity. This article aims to summarize the current literature about the available instruments to measure disease activity

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Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients run a higher risk of having low bone mass due to multifactorial events that include physical inactivity, persistent inflammation, low vitamin D levels, and glucocorticoid treatment. This study aimed at obtaining a comparison between bone involvement in SLE patients and healthy matched subjects (HS). Methods: A total of 40 SLE females (average age 54.1 ± 16.3 years) and 40 age-gender matched HS (average age 54.2 ± 15.9 years) were enrolled after having obtained informed written consent. Bone mineral density (BMD, g/cm 2) of the lumbar spine (L1-L4) was analyzed by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan (GE, Lunar Prodigy). The lumbar spine trabecular bone score (TBS) was derived for each spine DXA examination by the TBS index (TBS iNsight Medimaps). Results: The lumbar spine TBS score was statistically significantly lower in SLE patients than in HS (0.797 ± 0.825 vs. 1.398 ± 0.207, p < 0.001, as was BMD (p < 0.001) in all areas examined. Conclusions: SLE is associated with significant low bone mass as evidenced by DXA and TBS. This study emphasizes the importance of using DXA and TBS in the evaluation of the different aspects of bone architecture.