A new criterion proposed for the diagnosis of hand-arm vibration syndrome.

To propose a new criterion for the diagnosis of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), we evaluated the severity of the patients in comparison with the criterion of the Ministry of Labour in Japan (MLJ) and the Stockholm criterion. The characteristics of the Stockholm criterion was to classify severe cases with vascular disorders, because of evaluation due to the frequency of Raynaud's phenomenon alone. The Stockholm criterion diagnosed the HAVS separately in vascular and sensorineural disorders. The MLJ criterion was able to subdivide light stages. In vascular disorders, the MLJ criterion made serious consideration about cold sensation which appeared long before the occurrence of Raynaud's phenomenon. The MLJ criterion diagnosed the patients with vascular, sensorineural and motor (musculoskeletal) system disorders comprehensively. A new criterion which we proposed includes sensorineural, vascular and motor system disorders, the grade of which is evaluated in each system. The diagnosis might be done comprehensively.