[Microcirculatory disorders in patients with psoriatic arthritis]

As many as 39 patients with psoriatic arthritis were examined for hemorheology. Of these, 20 were examined at a time for the status of the microcirculatory bed in the skin and skeletal muscle by 133Xe clearance from the interstitial depot and by laser-Doppler flowmetry at the areas of the clinically intact skin. In 10 patients, the plasma blood viscosity was measured. All the test subjects manifested the clinical signs of damage to the vessels of the microcirculatory bed, namely capillaritis of the palmar surface of the hands and/or of the plantar surface of the feet, sensitivity to cold, numbness of the finger tips. A detailed analysis of the individual aggregation characteristics allowed two groups of patients to be revealed: with a decrease and enhancement of aggregation at a shift rate of 2.5 s-1. It should be noted that patients with severe hemorheological disorders showed both changes on the part of the microcirculatory bed (clinical and quantitative) and a rise of the blood plasma viscosity and hematocrit fall. The data obtained indicate that the microcirculatory and related rheological disorders may be implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriatic arthritis.