**9. Prognosis**

Being a first symptom in a number of CTD, the presence of RP requires regular follow-up that includes clinical, laboratory, immunological, and capillaroscopic assessment. The appearance of pathological capillaroscopic picture inherits a higher positive predictive value (47%) for the development of CTD vs. the predictive value of the positive ANA test (30%) [15]. Thus, nailfold capillaroscopy is the key investigation for monitoring RP patients. The interval of follow-up is 6 months, because a longer period of time is usually necessary for the development of morphological capillaroscopic changes, but this period may be shorter in cases with newly appeared alarming symptoms.
