VASODILATOR FIBERS IN THE HUMAN SKIN

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Abstract
Expts. were performed to test the theory which holds that vaso-dilatation in human skin in response to the heating of the indifferent extremities is due in part to vasodilator nerve impulses. At the height of the elevation of skin temp, due to reflex vasodilatation, block of the nerve supply to that area did not cause a fall in skin temp. In most cases an elevation occurred, in patients with normal peripheral vascular tree as well as in patients with Raynaud''s and Buerger''s disease. It may be concluded that if active vasodilator fibers exist in the skin of the digits, their functional significance is very limited. The indirect vasodilatation produced by heating the indifferent extremities is, therefore, due to the central inhibition of vasoconstrictor impulses in both somatic and autonomic pathways.