Study on blackfoot disease: with special reference to evaluating its cutaneous microcirculatory status

We evaluated the microcirculatory status of blackfoot disease by skin temperature measurement, laser Doppler flowmetry and capillary microscopy. The results of these assessments revealed a good correlation between the disease stage and the microcirculatory status. No effective therapy other than surgical amputation was recommended before. In this study, we treated this endemic disease with prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) infusion therapy. PGE1 was most effective in the erythematous stage and some minor ulcer with an improvement of microcirculatory status. However, PGE1 had no effect in severe ulcerative (ulcer > 0.5 cm) and gangrenous stages. These microcirculatory improvements foreshadowed the improvement of clinical manifestations. The microcirculatory status after PGE1 treatment demonstrated the effectiveness of the therapy.