[A study of Raynaud's syndrome using dynamic infrared thermography]

The method of infrared thermovision was used to study 22 patients with Raynaud's syndrome: 9 patients with sclerodermia, 8 with the primary Raynaud's syndrome and 5 patients with various rheumatic diseases. Patients with recurrent Raynaud's syndrome exhibited adaptation disorders, anomalous distribution of temperature--warming up began not from the distal regions of the bones, as it happens in the norm and with the primary Raynaud's syndrome, but from the proximal regions. Functional tests for sympathetic activation showed the absence of excess reaction in all the groups under examination. Direct cooling of the hand in patients with recurrent Raynaud's syndrome was accompanied by a considerable delay in restoration of the initial temperature. Sublingual administration of nifedipine did not induce a rise in skin temperature in 6 out of 9 patients with sclerodermia. Marked disorders in microcirculation in patients with recurrent Raynaud's syndrome were observed. The role of injury inflicted to arteriovenous anastomoses in pathogenesis of the mentioned syndrome are discussed.