The local regulation of blood flow evaluated simultaneously by 133-xenon washout and laser Doppler flowmetry

The laser Doppler flowmeter and the 133-Xenon washout techniques of measuring cutaneous blood flow were compared for measuring the vasoconstrictor response of the hand during orthostatic maneuvres. Important discrepancies were detected for the two methods. When the hand was lowered by 40 cm a 40% decrease in blood flow was detected by the 133-Xenon method, while a 60% decrease was seen by the laser Doppler technique. Lowering the hand by 50 cm resulted in no further blood flow decrease when using the 133-Xenon method, but an 80% blood flow decrease was recorded with the laser Doppler method. A marked decrease in blood flow was recorded by the laser Doppler technique in hands that were sympathectomized or a hand that was subjected to a nerve blockade, strategies which should eliminate the orthostatic vasoconstrictor response of superficial cutaneous vessels. The 133-Xenon technique did not detect any blood flow changes in hands without sympathetic tone. We found the laser Doppler flowmetry technique unsatisfactory for measurement of blood flow changes that occur in nutritional vessels as this method measures total skin blood flow including non-capillary vessels.