Treatment of patients with secondary Raynaud's syndrome

Treatment of secondary Raynaud's disease must be a treatment of the impaired microcirculation in the ischemic tissue. It can be performed in 3 ways: 1) By treating the vasospastic component 2) By reconstruction of occlusions or stenosis in the greater arteries 3) By improvement of the flow properties of blood. While the first two types of treatment often give unsatisfactory results, a new rheological therapy using Ancrod seems to be successful. This drug, a purified fraction from a snake venom lowers the fibrinogen concentration in blood therapy improving the flow properties of blood and plasma. In 5 patients suffering from severe secondary Raynaud's disease Ancrod was injected subcutaneously for a 2-4 week period. Some days after starting the treatment, the ischemic pain was reduced and finally disappeared. The beneficial effect continued even after ending the treatment. The mode of action of this new drug has been discussed.