The Relationship between Pulse Volume and Blood Flow in the Finger

Abstract

Studies were undertaken to determine the relationship between digital blood flow and pulse volume in 10 normal subjects and in 10 patients with scleroderma and Raynaud''s phenomenon. Measurements were made as the subjects were taken from cooled to heated conditions induced by direct body heating. The volume flow relationship, however, ranged widely among individuals. Although the scatter for the normals was less than for the patients with Raynaud''s phenomenon, there was no evidence of a preferential reduction in the pulse volume or the blood flow in the diseased digits. Pulse volume, therefore, appeared to be as reliable as indicator of the state of the vascular bed as the blood flow.