Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging에 따른 수족냉증 중증도와 Heart Rate Variability의 상관관계 연구

Abstract

Objectives: Cold Hypersensitivity of Hands and Feet (CHHF) has been diagnosed objectively by Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) and has been known to be associated with autonomic nervous system (ANS), which can be assessed by Heart Rate Variability (HRV). This study evaluated the correlation between severity of CHHF and HRV variables.Methods: We studied 155 non-menopausal women with CHHF who visited Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong from 01 October 2013 to 30 April 2016. We measured DITI and HRV of each patient. We used DITI to calculate the severity of CHHF with thermal difference between upper arm (L4, 俠白穴) and palm (P8, 勞宮穴) of both hands and anterior thigh (ST32, 伏兎穴) and dorsum of foot (LI3, 太衝穴) of both feet. The correlation between severity of CHHF and HRV variables were analyzed.Results: In time domain analysis, there was significantly positive correlation between the severity of CHHF and both SDNN and RMSSD. In frequency domain analysis, there was significantly positive correlation between the severity of CHHF and TP, HF and HF Norm while there was significantly negative correlation between the severity of CHHF and LF Norm as well as between the severity of cold hypersensitivity of both hands and LF/HF ratio.Conclusions: The more severe CHHF is, the more increased the function of parasympathetic nerve system (PNS) and relatively decreased the function of sympathetic nerve system (SNS) is. Also, it has known that cold hypersensitivity could be caused by deficiency syndrome and qi deficiency has the same ANS tendency as CHHF. Therefore, in practical fields, this result can be helpful in planning treatment and deciding prognosis in respect of deficiency syndrome.