FUNCTIONAL STUDIES ON BLOOD MICROCIRCULATION SYSTEM WITH LASER DOPPLER FLOWMETRY IN CLINICAL MEDICINE: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

The paper presents a review of the research update on the blood microcirculation system assessed with laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). Specific procedures for measurement of the microcirculation index by LDF and individual variability of microcirculation parameters during their real time assessment in vivo are discussed. In physiological conditions, a relative deviation of the results of measurements by LDF is within the range±35% and above from the mean value of the microcirculation index. This imposes certain limitations on the interpretation of the diagnostic results in terms of the “normal or pathologic”. Specifics of performance of functional stress tests on the microcirculation system are reviewed. Diagnostic criteria based on functional stress testing of the microcirculation system, which can be implemented with methodologically strict normatives and regulations, for examples, those for the occlusion test, are more reliable from metrologic perspective and significant compared to the results obtained without stress testing. Problems of implementation of the functional tests into clinical practice are discussed. It was shown that they may have a potentially wide spectrum of clinical indications, from functional diagnostics and early detection of microcirculatory abnormalities in diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and other diseases associated with microcirculatory disorders, to the physical rationale of exposure parameters, as well as objectification of efficiency of medical procedures aimed to stimulation of the microcirculatory functions in a patient's tissues and organs.