The Hemorheologic Effects of Hand-Transmitted Vibration:

Vibration white finger (VWF) is an ischemic condition of the hands that is associated with long-term exposure to hand-held vibration tools. The pathophysiology of VWF remains unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the hemorheologic effect of acute hand-transmitted vibration. This study investigated 52 men divided into two groups: VWF=29, mean age 46.9 years (range twenty-two to sixty-six); Controls=23, mean age 42.8 years (range twenty to sixty-four). Each subject gripped a vibrating handle for seven minutes thirty seconds at a vibration frequency of 120 Hz with an amplitude of displace ment of 0.25 mm. Venous blood was analyzed before and after acute vibration to determine the hematocrit, the plasma hemoglobin concentration, plasma viscosity, and red cell deformability, expressed as red cell transit time (RCTT). At rest, there was no significant difference in RCTT, plasma viscosity, hematocrit, and plasma hemoglobin concentration between the VWF group and controls. Acute vibration did, however, sig...