Capillaroscopy in pregnancy.

Capillaroscopy in pregnancy. Expert Rev Med Devices. 2017 Nov 21;: Authors: Thevissen K, Gyselaers W Abstract INTRODUCTION: In pregnancy, the circulatory system undergoes profound adaptation to meet the requirements in blood supply for the mother and the foetus. With the development of new techniques, research of the microcirculatory changes, important for e.g. pre-eclampsia, becomes available. This expert review gives an overview of the current evidence in the field of capillaroscopy. The aim of this review is to summarize the available techniques in the assessment of the microcirculation during pregnancy. Areas covered: A literature search was done, using the strategy: (microcirculation OR capillary OR capillaries OR capillaroscopy) AND pregnancy AND (density OR diameter OR count OR number). All articles were screened and all English articles were considered, when containing information regarding imaging of capillaries. Only structural parameters were considered, functional parameters (e.g. flow velocity) were not considered. Reference search also was undertaken after reading full text articles. Articles from reference search were then selected in the same way the articles from the primary search were selected. Expert commentary: With growing insight in microcirculatory changes in hypertensive pregnancy conditions, such as pre-eclampsia, the field of capillaroscopy will become more important in future. The technique is feasible and...
Source: Expert Review of Medical Devices - Category: Medical Devices Tags: Expert Rev Med Devices Source Type: research