Postocclusive reactive hyperemia and postural vasoconstriction in different kinds of leg ulcers--investigations with laser Doppler.

Laser-Doppler fluxmetry was performed in 42 patients with leg ulcers (18 venous, 8 arterial, 12 diabetic-arteriolar and 4 mixed arterio-venous) and in 9 healthy controls. Using a bipolar probe measurement was carried out at the ulcer border and on the dorsum of the foot in the supine and in the sitting position. Reactive hyperemia after three minute arterial occlusion was produced in both body-positions. In every ulcer-group resting and peak fluxes showed a statistically significant increase in the ulcer region as compared to normal skin of the lower leg in the control group, the quotient between peak and resting flux ("reactive hyperemia index" RHI) being significantly lower. The RHI values for four ulcer-patients with a dramatic deterioration worsening eight months later were close to one, while the unchanged and improved cases showed median values above 1,2. Sitting up was followed by a decrease of flux in all ulcer-groups as well as in the control group. On the dorsum of the foot there was an increase of the laser Doppler flux in patients with arterial occlusive disease, i.e. in the group with arterial and mixed ulcers. This study shows that the kind of microcirculatory flow damage is not different in various causes of ulcerations. The reduced reactive hyperemic response compared to the increased resting fluxes (amount of RHI-decrease) might be a useful predictor for healing or non-healing of the ulcer.