Facial Blood Research Articles

Vasomotor response of the human face: laser‐Doppler measurements during mild hypo‐ and hyperthermia

The skin of the face is reputed not to vasoconstrict in response to cold stress because the face skin temperature remains steady during hypothermia. The purpose of the present work was to measure the vasomotor response of the human face to whole-body hypothermia, and to compare it with hyperthermia. Six male subjects were immersed in cold and in warm water to obtain the two conditions. Skin blood flow, evaporation, and skin temperature (Tsk) were recorded in three loci of the face, the forehead, the infra orbital area, and the cheek. Tympanic (Tty) and oesophageal (Toes) temperatures were also recorded during the different thermal states. Normothermic measurements served as control. Blood flow was recorded with a laser-Doppler flowmeter, evaporation measured with an evaporimeter. Face Tsk remained stable between normo-, hypo-, and hyperthermia. Facial blood flow, however, did not follow the same pattern. The facial blood flow remained at minimal vasoconstricted level when the subjects' condition was changed from normo- to hypothermia. When the condition changed from hypo- to hyperthermia a 3 to 9-fold increase in the blood flow was recorded. From these results it was concluded that a vasoconstriction seems to be the general vasomotor state in the face during normothermia.

Rosacea: A study of clinical patterns, blood flow, and the role of Demodex folliculorum

Rosacea is a common facial eruption that has various clinical presentations. We studied blood flow in lesional skin and explored the role of Demodex folliculorum in patients with rosacea. A survey of clinical presentations was made in 108 patients with rosacea. Facial blood flow was studied by laser-Doppler flowmetry. The presence of Demodex was determined by microscopy of skin samples. The sex incidence was equal. The incidence peaked in the fourth and seventh decades of life. Lymphedema was common and was seen in 26 patients. Rhinophyma was present in 15 patients, mostly men. Eleven patients were black, an unexpectedly high number. Laser-Doppler flowmetry showed that lesional blood flow was three to four times that of control subjects. Demodex folliculorum was found in 20 of 25 rosacea patients examined but in only 2 of 20 control subjects. The findings indicate that the papillary dermal vasculature is dilated in rosacea. Demodex may be present. These findings give no definitive clue as to the origin of the disease.

Effects of Body Heating and Mental Arithmetic on Facial Sweating and Blood Flow in Unilateral Migraine Headache

Facial sweating and pulse amplitude during body heating were investigated during the headache-free period in 38 subjects who suffered from unilateral migraine headache that usually recurred on the same side. In 22 of these subjects, pulse amplitude recorded from the forehead circulation was examined during a computerized mental arithmetic test. Thermally-induced increases in forehead pulse amplitude were smaller on the side habitually affected by headache than on the other side of the forehead. Although sweating from the upper part of the forehead did not differ consistently between the two sides, asymmetry of sweating correlated significantly with asymmetry of the vascular response. Sweating and vascular responses were symmetrical in the cheeks. During mental arithmetic, mean increases in forehead pulse amplitude did not differ consistently between the two sides, but the maximum increase was greater on the nonsymptomatic side. These findings suggest that vascular sympathetic outflow was reduced on the symptomatic side of the forehead, possibly because of damage to the sympathetic plexus surrounding the internal carotid artery in the carotid canal during repeated episodes of migraine. Sympathetic fibers to the upper part of the forehead and cheeks bypass the carotid canal, which may account for symmetrical responses during body heating. A reduction in sympathetic outflow could influence vasodilation at the site of migraine headache.

Disturbances in ocular sympathetic function and facial blood flow in unilateral migraine headache.

The relationship between thermographic asymmetry in various parts of the face and indices of ocular sympathetic outflow was examined in 80 patients with unilateral migrainous headache. Both during and between episodes of headache, the pupil on the symptomatic side dilated more slowly and less extensively in darkness than the opposite pupil, indicating that ocular sympathetic outflow was compromised in some patients. In such cases the upper forehead and orbital region were warmer on the symptomatic side during migraine. In contrast to these signs of a reduction in cervical sympathetic outflow, eyelid separation was greater on the symptomatic side in patients with headache on the side that was usually affected. During the headache-free interval no consistent thermographic asymmetry was detected and eyelid separation was similar on both sides. These findings suggest that extracranial vascular changes and ocular sympathetic dysfunction during migraine are secondary to activation of trigeminal-vascular reflexes or to antidromic release of vasoactive substances from trigeminal nerve terminals. A secondary deficit in the sympathetic pathway to the symptomatic pupil could also prevent the expression of an increase in sympathetic outflow during headache.

レーザードップラー血流計を用いた顔面および口腔の血流計測について 第２報 体位変化による顔面血流変化

レーザードップラー血流計を用いた顔面および口腔の血流計測について 第２報 体位変化による顔面血流変化

Vascular changes in atypical facial pain.

SYNOPSISThermographic assessment of the facial circulation in nine patients with unilateral atypical facial pain indicated that heat loss was greater from the cheek or orbit on the side of pain in the majority of patients, The unilateral increase in facial blood flow in atypical facial pain is probably a reflex response to activity in trigeminal pain pathways, and suggests that there is an organic basis for this disorder.

Sympathetic nerve fibers in rat orofacial and cerebral tissues as revealed by the HRP-WGA tracing technique: a light and electron microscopic study

Horseradish peroxidase-wheat germ agglutinin injected into the superior cerical ganglion is taken up by the neuronal perikarya and transported anterogradely in large quantities into peripheral fibers and axonal terminals in a variety of orofacial and cerebral tissues, including the iris, cornea, pineal gland, facial skin and the adventia of cerebral and facial blood vessels. Subsequent histochemical processing according to the tetramethylbenzidine procedure produces a unique, highly visible intraaxonal marker that makes the identification and 3-dimensional tracing of the sympathetic nerve fibers clear and unambiguous at both the light and electron microscopic levels.

Emotion and facial efference: a theory reclaimed.

A theory of emotional expression, ignored since 1906, holds that facial muscles act as ligatures on facial blood vessels and thereby regulate cerebral blood flow, which, in turn, influences subjective feeling. The theory, developed by Israel Waynbaum, a French physician, hypothesizes the subjective experience of emotions as following facial expression rather than preceding it. It answers Darwin's question of why different muscles contract or relax in different emotions better than Darwin's own theory. When restated in terms of contemporary neurophysiological knowledge, it explains and organizes several ill-understood emotional processes and phenomena.

Bilateral calcified facial blood vessels

Bilateral calcified facial blood vessels

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Definition of Factitious Bleeding in An Infant by 51Cr Labeling of Erythrocytes

The Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a phenomenon in which symptoms of a disease are fabricated by some person other than the patient. This report describes and 8-week-old infant with repetitive bleeding episodes, presumably originating from the upper respiratory tract. Extensive investigations, including angiography, several endoscopies under general anesthesia, and reinfusion of the infant's red cells labeled with 51Cr followed by pulmonary and upper airway scanning, failed to reveal the source of bleeding. Within two weeks after initiation of the 51Cr studies, radioactivity of facial blood from two separate bleeding episodes did not exceed background counts. Simultaneous examination of the infant's capillary blood, however, showed moderate to marked radioactivity. The Rh subtype of the facial blood was cc, whereas the infant's type was Cc. These findings indicated that the facial blood was factitious in origin. No further "bleeding" occurred after this information was presented to the parents. This case represents an unusual example of the Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Awareness of this entity can prevent potentially harmful investigations. Documenting its occurrence and sharing the information with parents in a nonaccusatory manner may prevent future harm to the patient.

Facial musculature, nerves and blood vessels of the hamster in relation to the cheek pouch

Facial musculature, nerves and blood vessels of the hamster in relation to the cheek pouch