Vasomotion in venous disease.

Abnormalities of the capillary microcirculation may be important in the pathogenesis of venous ulceration. In this study the characteristics of capillary vasomotion in venous disease have been studied using laser Doppler flowmetry. The amplitude and frequency of vasomotion in the skin microcirculation as measured by laser Doppler flowmetry was determined in 101 subjects. These comprised 43 subjects with venous disease and lipodermatosclerosis (LDS), 14 subjects with uncomplicated varicose veins (VV), and 44 normal controls. In 43 of these 101 limbs, vasomotion was also measured after heating the skin to 43 degrees C. The resting laser Doppler flux was significantly higher in the LDS group compared to the other two groups (LDS median = 76, VV median = 47 (P less than 0.04), controls median = 49 (P less than 0.003]. The amplitude of vasomotive waves was significantly higher in the LDS group compared to controls (LDS median = 20, VV median = 8.3 (P less than 0.007), controls median = 14 (P less than 0.007), as was the frequency of vasomotion (LDS median = 3.3 waves/min, VV median = 2.5 (P = ns), controls median = 2.7 (P less than 0.007]. On heating the skin to 43 degrees C the frequency of the vasomotion increased significantly in the control (P less than 0.004) and VV (P less than 0.04) groups but not in the LDS group. The amplitude of the vaso-motion also increased significantly in the control (P less than 0.01) and VV (P less than 0.002) groups but not in the LDS group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)