Skin microcirculation in patients with a history of cardiovascular events

The reactivity of skin microcirculation was compared in 3 groups of patients. Group 1 included healthy volunteers without cardiovascular diseases (n = 19), Group 2 included patients with diseases that increase the risk of cardiovascular events (arterial hypertension and / or angina pectoris and / or diabetes mellitus) (n = 40), Group 3 included patients with a history of cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction and / or stroke and / or coronary revascularization) (n = 20). Microcirculation measurement was performed by Laser Doppler flowmetry using LAKK 02 device during the heating test. Patients from Group 2 had a decrease in the reactivity of skin microcirculation compared with the control group, while the reactivity of skin microcirculation in these patients was better than in patients from Group 3. The highest difference was observed for the Slope_180 parameter (slope of the regression line of the microcirculation curve for the first 180 seconds of heating). Using the machine learning we developed a method for classifying patients into Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 according to the Slope_180 parameter. The sensitivity and specificity of Slope_180 parameter in identifying patients with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes (groups 2 and 3 together) was 82% and 68%, respectively. Such methods may be a promising for health screening. Thus, the relationship between the severity of skin microcirculation disorders and the “severity” of cardiovascular disease demonstrates the prospect of studying microcirculatory disorders as a cardiovascular risk factor.