Int J Angiol 1996; 5(1): 19-23
DOI: 10.1007/BF02043458
Original Articles

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Effect of thermal stimuli on peripheral blood flow in homozygous sickle cell disease: A preliminary study

Junette S. Mohan1 , Harvey L. Reid1 , Graham R. Serjeant2
  • 1Department of Physiology, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
  • 2Department of MRC Laboratories (Jamaica), University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2011 (online)

Abstract

Forearm blood flow (FBF) was measured in 23 patients with homozygous sickle cell (SS) disease and 20 controls with normal hemoglobin genotype (AA) using venous occlusion air plethysmography to examine the pattern of peripheral blood flow in both groups at rest, and in response to thermal stimuli. The mean resting FBF in SS patients was more than twice that in AA controls (P <0.001). Indirect cooling (15°C) of the left forearm for 2 minutes evoked a significant increase (P <0.005) in FBF in the opposite arm in both SS patients and AA controls, with the response being greater in the controls. Indirect heating (40°C) for 2 minutes evoked a decrease in FBF of a similar magnitude in both groups. The increased FBF in response to moderate cooling in SS patients may be part of an important reflex mechanism which could support the concept of the ‘steal' syndrome, as recently postulated, as a possible explanation for the cold-related initiation of the painful crisis of SS disease.