REFLEX VASODILATATION BY BODY HEATING IN DIAGNOSIS OF PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISORDERS

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Abstract
ALTHOUGH Brown-Séquard,1 as early as 1858, called attention to the clinical importance of differentiating arterial spasm from arterial occlusion, routine tests to differentiate between the two have been introduced only within the last twenty years, i. e., since the study of peripheral vascular diseases has become a recognized specialty in the practice of medicine. Numerous methods have been used at various times (general anesthesia, spinal anesthesia, paravertebral block, peripheral nerve block, injections of typhoid vaccine, injections of sympathicolytic drugs, immersion of one or two extremities independently in hot water, and the use of electrically heated sleeves, boots and mattresses), many of which do not lend themselves to routine clinical examination, particularly in the patient's home. Of all the methods mentioned, reflex vasodilatation as produced by body heating is the most practical, the most reliable and the only one not fraught with possible danger to the patient. It is also