Laser Speckle Contrast Analysis: Functional Evaluation of Microvascular Damage in Connective Tissue Diseases. Is There Evidence of Correlations With Organ Involvement, Such as Pulmonary Damage?

Abstract

Laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA) is a non-contact technique able to quantify peripheral blood perfusion (PBP) over large skin areas. LASCA has been used to study hand PBP in several clinical conditions. These include systemic sclerosis (SSc) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and LASCA showed that PBP was significantly lower in these conditions than in healthy subjects (HS). Moreover, it has been demonstrated that LASCA is a safe technique also able to monitor digital ulcer perfusion and their evolution in SSc patients, during systemic and local treatment. The use of LASCA, coupled with reactivity tests is commonplace in the field of microvascular function research. Post-occlusive hyperemia reactivity (POHR) and local thermal hyperemia, associated with laser techniques are reliable tests in the evaluation of perfusion in SSc patients. Other studies used laser speckled techniques, together with acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside iontophoresis, as specific tests of endothelium function. In conclusion, LASCA is a safe, non-contact reliable instrument for the quantification of PBP at skin level and can also be associated with reactivity tests to monitor disease progression and response to treatment in different connective tissue diseases.

Keywords: blood perfusion; digital ulcers; laser speckle techniques; peripheral microcirculation; systemic lupus erythematosus; systemic sclerosis.