Thermostatted measurement of systolic blood pressure on cooled fingers

Indirect recording of systolic blood pressure on fingers was performed after local cooling using a double-inlet plastic cuff on one phalanx. Cooling induces constriction of the digital arteries and the delayed re-opening during cuff deflation is recordable by the decrease in finger systolic pressure. A new device for rapid thermostatic equilibration using Peltier elements is described. The method was applied to three groups of normal subjects: seventeen indoor working females, sixteen indoor working males and twenty working males. After mild body cooling the finger systolic pressure was decreased on average to 88% in all three groups at a finger temperature of 15 degrees C (95% lower confidence limit 68%). Young females with complaints of cold hands or Raynaud's phenomenon had significantly lower pressures and the method is therefore applicable for routine investigations.