Abnormal vasoreaction of peripheral arteries to cold stimulus of both hands in diabetics.

Abnormal vasoreactions of peripheral arteries to cold stimulus of both hands were studied in controls and NIDDM patients by measuring changes of toe skin temperatures using thermography, and compared with thickness and calcification of wall and inner diameters of popliteal and dorsal pedal arteries using B mode ultrasonic imaging. Cold stimulated vasoreactions were divided into four patterns: (1) normal type (skin temperature going up and down within 1 degree C on the basal line), (2) increasing type (temperature going up), (3) decreasing type (temperature going down) and (4) flat type (no change of temperature). The difference in patterns was suggested to be related to the degree of atherosclerotic changes of the dorsal pedal artery obtained from the ultrasonic studies. The mechanism of abnormal vasoreactions of arteries with atherosclerosis is not clear, but cold stimulated thermography may be a useful tool in evaluating the state of peripheral atherosclerosis.