Telangiectasia diameter in response to thermal stimulus: experimental data and possible clinical applications.

BACKGROUND Telangiectasias are dilated blood vessels on the skin that develop progressively as a consequence of several diseases, including chronic venous disease. The skin blood flow has differences compared to the rest of the circulatory system. These vessels have a permanent vasoconstrictor tone that can respond to vasoconstriction/vasodilation stimulative substances and higher or lower temperatures. This study aims to investigate any possible telangiectasias vasoconstriction or vasodilation in response to temperature changes. METHODS This is a clinical trial with 26 outpatients of vascular surgery with telangiectasias in the lower limbs. We used direct skin digital microscopy to obtain telangiectasias images at room temperature and after the thermal stimulus with cold pads. These photographs were processed using AmScopeAmLite and the capillary diameter and area were measured in Adobe Illustrator. The data collected was analyzed in SPSS Statistics with a paired t-test for the telangiectasias area and a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test for the telangiectasias diameter. RESULTS In comparison to telangiectasias measures at room temperature, we found a statistically significant decrease in the diameter (median of -0.04 mm; interquartile range: -0.10 mm to -0.01 mm; p <0.001) and area (mean of -26.54 mm2; 95% Confidence interval (-36.31, -16.76) mm2; p <0.001 in response to the cold stimulus. CONCLUSIONS Telangiectasias respond to cold patch application with a significantly statistical microscale quantifiable vasoconstriction. This intervention has the potential to improve the current state of telangiectasias sclerotherapy due to its mechanism helping to stabilize the applied foam. We speculate that topic cold used as a neoadjuvant treatment could improve the efficiency, stability, and other outcomes of sclerotherapy. Also, complementary use of topical cold stimulus application may be of interest in the therapeutic management of telangiectasias.