Cutolo, M., Vanhaecke, A., Ruaro, B., Deschepper, E., Ickinger, C., Melsens, K., Piette, Y., Trombetta, A. C., De Keyser, F., & Smith, V. (2018). Is laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA) the new kid on the block in systemic sclerosis? A systematic literature review and pilot study to evaluate reliability of LASCA to measure peripheral blood perfusion in scleroderma patients. Autoimmunity reviews, 17(8), 775-780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2018.01.023

@article{c8bf759fa03e4ba0950d463894d32775,
title = "Is laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA) the new kid on the block in systemic sclerosis? A systematic literature review and pilot study to evaluate reliability of LASCA to measure peripheral blood perfusion in scleroderma patients",
abstract = "Objectives: A reliable tool to evaluate flow is paramount in systemic sclerosis (SSc). We describe herein on the one hand a systematic literature review on the reliability of laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA) to measure the peripheral blood perfusion (PBP) in SSc and perform an additional pilot study, investigating the intra- and inter-rater reliability of LASCA. Methods: A systematic search was performed in 3 electronic databases, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. In the pilot study, 30 SSc patients and 30 healthy subjects (HS) underwent LASCA assessment. Intra-rater reliability was assessed by having a first anchor rater performing the measurements at 2 time-points and inter-rater reliability by having the anchor rater and a team of second raters performing the measurements in 15 SSc and 30 HS. The measurements were repeated with a second anchor rater in the other 15 SSc patients, as external validation. Results: Only 1 of the 14 records of interest identified through the systematic search was included in the final analysis. In the additional pilot study: intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for intra-rater reliability of the first anchor rater was 0.95 in SSc and 0.93 in HS, the ICC for inter-rater reliability was 0.97 in SSc and 0.93 in HS. Intra- and inter-rater reliability of the second anchor rater was 0.78 and 0.87. Conclusions: The identified literature regarding the reliability of LASCA measurements reports good to excellent inter-rater agreement. This very pilot study could confirm the reliability of LASCA measurements with good to excellent inter-rater agreement and found additionally good to excellent intra-rater reliability. Furthermore, similar results were found in the external validation.",
keywords = "EULAR Study Group on Microcirculation in Rheumatic Diseases, Laser speckle contrast analysis, Microcirculation, Reliability, Systematic literature review, Systemic sclerosis",
author = "Maurizio Cutolo and Amber Vanhaecke and Barbara Ruaro and Ellen Deschepper and Claudia Ickinger and Karin Melsens and Yves Piette and Trombetta, {Amelia Chiara} and {De Keyser}, Filip and Vanessa Smith",
year = "2018",
month = aug,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.autrev.2018.01.023",
language = "English",
volume = "17",
pages = "775--780",
journal = "Autoimmunity reviews",
issn = "1568-9972",
publisher = "Elsevier",
number = "8",
}