Clinical Capillary Microscopy

This comprehensive photographic atlas of normal and diseased living human capillaries in nail fold, bulbar conjuctiva, tongue, lip, and gingiva is the first book of its kind. As such, it represents a milestone in the field and an impressive record of the authors' personal investigations of normal subjects and patients during the past 25 years. While such studies are by no means new (early observations of conjuctival vessels are attributed to Boerhaave), it is only in recent years that capillary microscopy has begun to be used as a tool in the study of human disease. Whereas more elaborate experimental techniques of illumination, recording, and amplification of images hold promise for future investigation, the authors have used relatively simple, readily available equipment. They advocate wider utilization of capillary microscopy as part of routine, complete clinical examination, and the method in their hands has proved useful, yielding findings relevant to the diagnosis