Skin oxygen pressure histograms in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease during intraarterial and intravenous prostaglandin E1 infusions of different dosages and their prognostic value.

Skin surface oxygen pressure fields (tcPO2 [37 degrees C]) reproducibly characterize skin microcirculation in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease. These appear suited for investigation of short- and long-term effects of vasoactive drug treatment. The authors studied whether skin surface oxygen pressure histograms change depending on dosage and route of administration of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), whether they are of predictive value for patients' clinical outcome, and whether they normalize after therapy with PGE1. The authors investigated 15 patients with various degrees of disease and measured forefoot oxygen histograms consisting of at least 80 single tcPO2 (37 degrees C) values before and during intraarterial infusion (1.5, 3, or 6 ng/kg/minute) and intravenous infusion (4.5, or 9 ng/kg/minute). The measurements were repeated two and six hours after the end of intraarterial application of 1.5 ng/kg/minute. Furthermore, the orthostatic vasoconstrictor response was tested. Skin oxygen pressure histograms were controlled after a period of twenty-two (mean) days of intraarterial PGE1 therapy. Resting histograms were left shifted with median tcPO2 (37 degrees C) between 1 and 7 mm Hg. During intraarterial application, histograms were shifted to lower tcPO2 (37 degrees C) values in most patients. Only in 3 diabetic subjects with proximal or acral obliterations was a marked increase observed. The alterations were detectable at least two hours after the end of the infusion. During intravenous infusion, histograms did not change in most cases. After long-term therapy, histograms were substantially unchanged. A pathologic vasoconstrictor response, which was present in 10 patients, could not be restored. Despite a marked deterioration of the histograms the clinical outcome was favorable in 7 patients. Patients with a high resting tcPO2 (37 degrees C) (median 4 mm Hg and more) and those with a vasoconstriction on orthostasis are likely to respond to PGE1 therapy.