[Comparative study of digital vascular reactivity as a function of sex]

The authors have studied the vasomotor status and digital vascular reactivity to cold in a series of 37 healthy volunteers (18 women and 19 men; mean age 30.6 years, range: 24-34) using digital mercury strain-gauge plethysmography. Correlations between digital blood flow and sex or other individual parameters (height, weight, smoking habits ...) were particularly looked for. Women's digital vascular tone evaluated under standardized conditions was found superior to men's, thus corroborating clinical and experimental data reported in literature. On the other hand, vasculotropic digital reactivity to local cooling was found similar in women and men. Moreover, no visible effect of local cooling was evidenced on the non-tested contralateral hand, suggesting the absence of significant general sympathetic influence during local cooling test.