Cold-induced vasospasm in patients with fibromyalgia and chronic low back pain in comparison to healthy subjects.
Using capillary videomicroscopy of the nail fold, the frequency of cold-induced vasospasm and capillary hemodynamic parameters were studied after application of cold in 50 patients with primary fibromyalgia, 50 patients with chronic low back pain, and 50 healthy controls. Cold-induced vasospasm was detected in 38% of the patients with fibromyalgia. In this group it was significantly more frequent than in the patients with chronic low back pain (20%, p < 0.05) and healthy subjects (8%, p < 0.001). In the fibromyalgia group, the magnitude of vasospasm as measured by the capillary blood flow deceleration after cold application correlated negatively with the pain intensity as measured by pain score (r = -0.3839, p < 0.01). No differences in clinical appearance were found between patients with and without cold-induced vasospasm in both the fibromyalgia and low back pain group.
Hochrhein Institute for Research and Prevention of Rheumatic Diseases, Bad Säckingen, Germany.
E
E
Lapossy
P
P
Gasser
P
P
Hrycaj
B
B
Dubler
W
W
Samborski
W
W
Muller
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002196:Capillaries / Q000502:physiology; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014661:Vasoconstriction