[Computerized digital thermometry in Raynaud's disease. Personal experience].

BACKGROUND

Computerized digital thermometry has been used for instrumental diagnosis of Raynaud's disease, that is characterized by diminution of the cutaneous temperature of the fingers and the late delayed recovery. Thermometry permits to measure basal temperature of the ten fingers, during cooling to 10 degrees C ("cold test") and the response, measuring temperature minute by minute up to 25 degrees.

METHODS

In order to assess vasospastic ischemic disease a total of 66 subjects have been examined: 19 were asymptomatic for acrolocalised pathologies (control subjects) and 47 were symptomatic.

RESULTS

No close correlation was observed between clinic 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 Raynaud's disease, 38.5% of cases revealed "normal" instrumental patterns. Therefore no discriminating parameters were identified which might have allowed the instrumental identification of subjects suffering from Raynaud's disease compared to healthy individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, computerised digital thermometry is a technique with a good level of sensitivity, while the specificity is scarce.