High vascular tone but no obliterative lesions in vibration white fingers.

To study if obliterative lesions in digital arteries are relevant as the pathogenic factor in vibration white finger, finger blood flow was measured in 15 subjects with advanced symptoms and in 15 controls by venous occlusion plethysmography before and after vasodilation. Before vasodilation, the subjects had lower temperature, blood flow, and peak blood flow after arterial occlusion in the fingers than did the controls, while venous tone was increased. In addition, after sympathicolysis, finger blood flow was lower in the study than in the control group, but there was no difference peak blood flow after arterial occlusion or in venous tone. The results indicate that the subjects have a high vascular tone causing a reduction in blood flow during submaximal flow conditions. Obliterative organic lesions in finger arteries do not seem to be present, since the "maximal" flow values of the subjects are similar to those of the controls.