Facial skin temperature in chlorpropamide alcohol flush

Objective methods to study the chlorpropamide alcohol flush (CPAF) have been inadequate. Determination of blood acetaldehyde has proved to be a promising method, but the analysis is difficult and time-consuming. To measure the facial skin temperature is more handy. The results of these measurements can be presented as delta T (skin temperature increase), %T (per cent of maximum possible temperature rise) or delta MTCI (malar thermal circulation index) after calculations. The baseline skin temperature is accounted for in %T and delta MTCI. Blood acetaldehyde determinations and placebo-alcohol tests can be used to separate the CPAF reaction from alcohol flushing. Single dose CPAF tests including facial skin temperature measurements were performed in 133 type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetics. Facial flush was observed in 42.9%. The specificity and sensitivity of all three skin temperature methods were high: 88.2, 85.5, 96.1%, and 89.5, 86.0, 86.0%, respectively. Skin temperature measurement, whether expressed as delta T, %T or delta MTCI, provides a method to study CPAF with high accuracy.