[Computerized digital thermometry in acrosyndromes. Personal experience].

A diminution of the cutaneous temperature of the fingers and the latter's delayed recovery are constant features in the symptomatological triad of Raynaud's disease (RD). Thermometry is a method which can provide an objective evaluation of this phenomenon. The authors aimed to verify the value of thermometry using a computerised digital thermometer to measure basal temperature, that during cooling to 10 C, and the response. A computerised system with an AVTR interface was utilized using different probes for the 10 fingers and measuring temperature minute by minute up to 25 degrees. A total of 51 subjects were examined: 19 were asymptomatic for acrolocalised pathologies and 32 were symptomatic. No close correlation was observed between clinical and instrumental data. In fact 31.5% of the asymptomatic subjects had a "non-normal" reaction to the test; on the other hand, in the group of female over-50-years-old with symptoms suggesting RD, 44.4% of cases revealed normal instrumental patterns. Therefore no discriminating parameters were identified which might have allowed the instrumental identification of subjects suffering from RD compared to healthy individuals: there was a good level of sensitivity but scarce specificity.