Response patterns in finger and central body skin temperatures under mild whole body cooling in an elderly and in a young male - a pre-study

The arteriovenous anastomoses (AVAs) in distal body parts (especially hands and feet) and the peripheral veins draining them constitute the "AVA organ" that may provide around one third of the total skin surface area for heat exchange [1]. The temperatures over AVA-regulated skin sites are seldom taken into account and therefore actual heat loss may be underestimated, especially in studies employing mild whole-body cooling. The aim of this test was to study the response pattern of finger skin temperature (rich in AVAs) with non-AVA sites during transient whole-body cooling in an elderly and a young man.