Evaluation of Reflex Cold Provocation by Laser Doppler Flowmetry in Clinically Healthy Subjects with a History of Cold Hands

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate capillary blood flow and the reaction to cold provocation by means of laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and measurement of skin temperature at the fingertip of 39 healthy subjects who had a history of cold hands and feet but were free of any clinically significant vasospastic symptoms. A group of 39 sex- and age-matched healthy subjects without such complaints served as the control. The anamnestic complaints about cold hands and feet could be substantiat ed by the presence of a lower baseline skin perfusion and temperature. However, the maintenance of the normal range of reagibility to a reflex contractile stimu lus with an unaltered potential to recover distinctly separates these subjects from patients with Raynaud's disease.