Application of pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound to exploration of the peripheral vasomotor response by gender and hand dominance.
OBJECTIVE
Laser Doppler flowmetry measures peripheral vasomotor response but fails to detect changes in vascular diameters, resistance, and heart rates. Because this response contributes to assessing sympathetic disorders and relies on the above variables to be correctly interpreted, we used pulsed-wave Doppler (PWD) ultrasound to evaluate the response and to determine whether it was affected by gender or hand dominance.


METHODS
PWD was applied to bilateral deep palmar branches of the radial arteries of 22 men and 22 women, using post-inspiratory cough as the sympathetic stimulus. Pulsatility index (PI), arterial diameters, heart rates, flow velocity, and blood flow before and after sympathetic stimuli were analyzed for both groups.


RESULTS
Women had a higher PI value of the radial arteries at rest; in contrast, that of men was higher after sympathetic stimuli. Blood flow velocity (V max, V max mean, and V mean) at rest was higher for men than for women. A significant difference was observed in V min after stimulus. Arterial diameters and blood flow before and after stimuli were higher for men than for women. Post-inspiratory cough caused significant diameter reduction in women but heart rate elevation in men. Hand dominance had no effect.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated the suitability of PWD for detailing peripheral vasomotor response, which was affected by gender but not hand dominance. Our results suggest application of PWD to diseases with unilateral sympathetic impairment, but responses for different sexes should be treated with caution.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 7, Chun-San S. Rd, Taipei, 100, Taiwan, ROC.
Ke-Vin
KV
Chang
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, No. 579, Yun-Lin Rd., Yunlin, 640, Taiwan, ROC.
Chueh-Hung
CH
Wu
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 7, Chun-San S. Rd, Taipei, 100, Taiwan, ROC.
Tian-Shin
TS
Yeh
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 7, Chun-San S. Rd, Taipei, 100, Taiwan, ROC.
Tyng-Guey
TG
Wang
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 7, Chun-San S. Rd, Taipei, 100, Taiwan, ROC.
Ming-Yen
MY
Hsiao
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 7, Chun-San S. Rd, Taipei, 100, Taiwan, ROC. wenshiang@gmail.com.
Wen-Shiang
WS
Chen
Doppler; Radial artery; Sex; Sympathetic nerve system; Vasomotor response