BLOOD FLOW IN UPPER AND LOWER LIMBS OF HEMIPLEGIC PATIENTS AS SEEN BY PLETHYSMOGRAPHY

• Published in: Rihabiritēshon igaku Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 155 - 159
• Main Authors: MARUYAMA, Toshiaki, HIRAIZUMI, Yutaka, MORI, Yoshiaki, ONIMARU, Takashige, MIZUMA, Masazumi, FUJIMAKI, Etsuo, KURIYAMA, Setsuro, TASHIRO, Yoshihisa, NAKANISHI, Toshio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine 1984
• Subjects: Plethysmography
• ISSN: 0034-351X; 1880-778X
• DOI: 10.2490/jjrm1963.21.155

We used plethysmography to study blood flow in the upper and lower limbs of hemiplegic patients. Measurements were taken, after the subject quietly rested supine for 30 minutes, from the middle finger of each hand and from the great toe of each foot. Five measurements at each locus were averaged to obtain the values used for analysis. A “paretic blood flow value” was calculated by dividing the volume pulse-wave amplitude of the paretic side by the sum of the amplitudes for both sides and expressing this ratio as a percentage. We had the following results: 1) For most patients whose strokes had occurred within a year, blood flow was greater in the paretic upper limb than in the nonparetic upper limb. 2) For most patients whose strokes had occurred more than a year before, blood flow was lower in the paretic upper limb than in the nonparetic upper limb. 3) The number of months after the stroke correlated significantly with upper limb blood flow, but not with lower limb blood flow. 4) No correlation was seen between blood flow in the limbs and Brunnstrom stages. 5) Blood flow in the limbs was not correlated to age. 6) Blood flow in the lower limb failed to correlate with ability to walk.