HYPEREMIC RESPONSE IN THE SKIN MICROCIRCULATION OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC VENOUS INSUFFICIENCY

The capacity of the microcirculation in the liposclerotic skin of pati ents with chronic venous insufficiency to vasodilate in response to pi locarpine electrophoresis was assessed using laser Doppler fluxmetry. Pilocarpine induces vasodilatation by direct action on capillaries; ot her methods of vasodilatation, such as heating of the skin, act by a n umber of pathways including a neurogenic one. Thirty patients with lip odermatosclerosis and chronic venous insufficiency and 20 control subj ects were studied. There was no difference in peak vasodilatation foll owing pilocarpine electrophoresis in the two groups. The median (inter quartile range) peak flux in patients was 665 (382-1025) units and in controls 765 (452-975) units (95 per cent confidence interval of diffe rence -270 to 150 units, P = 0.5). This suggests that the capillaries in the liposclerotic skin of patients with chronic venous insufficienc y have a normal capacity to vasodilate.