Investigation of the Rewarming og the Fingers After Cooling and the Autonomic Nervous System in Raynaud's Phenomenon

Vibration perception threshold is examined for 7 different frequences. All fingers are examined except for the thumbs.

A battery of tests invented to diagnose the cardiac autonomic neuropathy in diabetics. Heart rate and blood pressure are measured during Valsalva maneuver, deep breathing, active standing and prolonged handgrip.

Blood pressure and heart rate are measured continuously while the participant is brought to a 60 degree position and held there for 15 minutes.

An infrared thermographic camera is applied to record temperature of the fingers of the participant before and after cooling in 10 degree water for 1 min.

123I-MIBG is injected into a vein, and an early and a late scan is performed. Regions Of Interest are selected for the heart and mediastinum, and the ratio as well as well as the Washout Rate can be determined. MIBG is a noradrenaline analogue and the examination is performed to visualize a potential imbalance of the autonomic nervous system of the heart.

"The blood samples will be assayed for hemoglobin, long-term blood sugar, C-reactive protein, sodium, potassium, magnesium, albumin, TSH, vitamin B and D, and ionized calcium.~Patients with suspected Raynaud's disease will be tested for anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) to screen for underlying rheumatic illness.~Blood samples will also be drawn during tilt table testing and assayed for plasma catecholamines."