Digital circulatory testing in primary hypertension with reference to severity of the disease and to drug therapy

1. 1. Digital circulatory tests were carried out prior to treatment in 41 cases of primary hypertension and repeated during a period of treatment with drugs in 8 patients, and during a period of placebo therapy in 5 patients. 2. 2. Intrinsic vascular caliber as derived from the flow-pressure ratio in the vasodilated state was somewhat decreased in the “moderate to severe” as compared to the “mild” cases. 3. 3. Neurogenic vasoconstriction as measured by the work of digital vasoconstriction was somewhat increased prior to treatment as measured in the “good” as against the “fair to poor” responders. The overlap, however, was too great for individual predictions except for the extreme values.