Reaction of capillary blood cell velocity in nailfold capillaries to nifedipine and ketanserin in patients with vasospastic disease.

By using nailfold videomicroscopy in conjunction with local exposure of 60 s to cold air, the acute haemodynamic responses in capillary blood cell velocity 60 min after a single oral dose of 20 mg sustained-released nifedipine and 20 mg ketanserin were evaluated for each substance in 12 patients with vasospastic disease. The results obtained showed that the cold-induced flow stop duration was significantly (P less than 0.05) decreased and capillary blood cell velocity significantly (P less than 0.05) increased after local cooling. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and skin temperature did not differ significantly before and after treatment with either nifedipine or ketanserin. It is concluded that nifedipine and ketanserin are useful agents in the treatment of digital vasospastic disease. Furthermore, in vivo videomicroscopy is one of the few non-invasive and clinically useful direct methods for evaluating the effect of a drug on the microcirculation of normal and ischaemic skin areas.