constant dilatation and constriction ofthe arterioles, ... factors on the arteriolar sooth muscle'. At the .... minimal vascular resistance and arteriolar hyalinosis.
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine Volume 84 May 1991
Vasomotion in
venous
261
disease
T R Cheatle FRCSI S K Shami FRCS E Stibe MB P D Coleridge Smith FRCS J H Scurr FRCS Department of Surgery, University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, Middlesex Hospital, Mortimer Street, London WiN 8AA Keywords: lipodermatosclerosis; venous disease; varicose veins; blood flow velocity; skin microcirculation
Summary Abnormalities of the capillary microcirculation may be important in the pathogenesis of venous ulceration. In this study the characteristics of capillary vasomotion in venous disease have been studied using laser Doppler flowmetry. The amplitude and frequency of vasomotion in the skin microcirculation as measured by laser Doppler flowmetry was determined in 101 subjects. These comprised 43 subjects with venous disease and lipodermatosclerosis (LDS), 14 subjects with uncomplicated varicose veins (VV), and 44 normal controls. In 43 of these 101 limbs, vasomotion was also measured after heating the skin to 43°C. The resting laser Doppler flux was significantly higher in the LDS group compared to the other two groups (LDS median=76, VV median=47 (P
