LASER-DOPPLER SKIN PERFUSION-PRESSURE IN NORMAL AND VASCULAR SUBJECTSWITH REST PAIN - AN UNIVERSAL MEASUREMENT

Laser-Doppler (LDF) skin perfusion pressure was measured and compared with Doppler ankle pressure measurements in 40 normal subjects and 20 patients with rest pain and ankle/foot Doppler pressure lower that 70 mmHg. Six different, commercially avaliable LDF instruments were used. To obtain perfusion pressure a standard blood pressure cuff was used measuring the pressure at which the skin flux reading reached the biol ogical zero level when inflating the cuff (PI) and the pressure at whi ch the LDF tracing reappeared after deflating the cuff from sovrasisto lic pressure level (P2). Perfusion pressure (PP) was considered to be the average [P1 + P2]/2. No differences in PP amongs the 6 instruments both in normal and vascular subjects were observed. These results ind icate that PP is an universal LDF measurement which can be easily obta ined with different LDF instruments.