An Improved Technic for Capillary Microscopy of the Skin

Abstract

The common technic of cutaneous capillary microscopy as originally described by Lombard1 in 1912 and later elaborated into a method for clinical examination by the pioneering work of 0. Muller and his associates2 consists of viewing the capillaries of the skin through a microscope using reflected light after first clearing the surface layers of the skin somewhat with a drop of glycerin or oil. The capillaries of the nail fold are seen in longitudinal profile whereas in other locations only the tips of the capillary loops are usually visible. Most studies, therefore, on the capillary circulation have been confined to the nail fold. The nail fold capillaries, however, are not entirely comparable to the capillaries in other areas of the skin because of their acral location and the large number of arteriovenous anastomoses in that region. The rather extensive basic literature dealing with skin capillary microscopy in normal and diseased conditions can be explored through the publications and their contained references of Muller2, Carrier3, Callander4, Leader5, Wright and Duryee6, and more recently of Haupt-mann7, Gilje and associates8, 9> 10, and Davis11,12.