Vibration sense and sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity in patients with occlusive arterial disease

The function of sympathetic vasoconstrictor fibres was studied in 18 patients with occlusive arterial disease of the legs and somatic neuropathy, as evidenced as an increased vibration perception threshold. Nine patients suffered from long-term diabetes mellitus. Sympathetic vasoconstrictor function was studied by the capability of the local sympathetic venoarteriolar reflex (Henriksen 1977) elicited by lowering the leg to induce an arteriolar constriction in subcutaneous tissue at the ankle level. Blood flow was measured by the local isotope washout technique. In only five patients with loss of vibration sense, abnormal vasoconstrictor function was found. In three of these patients, the abnormal response most likely could be ascribed to impaired function of the vascular smooth muscle cells. Neither in diabetics nor in non-diabetics could an abnormal vibration sense be taken as evidence for loss of sympathetic vasoconstrictor function. It is suggested that this is studied by a simple postural test as used in the present study.