Skin sympathetic vasomotor control can be examined in the extremities by the skin vasomotor test. In this test the change in skin blood flow and skin temperature in the hand and foot in response to a cold stimulus is utilized as an index of distal sympathetic nerve fibre integrity. This is of importance in conditions such as diabetes mellitus as peripheral autonomic neuropathy is associated with orthostatic hypotension and diabetic foot complications. The validity and reproducibility of the test as a marker of distal sympathetic nerve function has been studied. The test was performed in nine healthy control subjects and in nine subjects (undergoing minor surgery) after a sympathetic nerve conduction block (L2-L3) was achieved in the lower extremities by spinal analgesia. Changes in skin temperature (p < 0.001) and skin blood flow (p < 0.005) in responses to cooling were significantly larger in the control group than in the group with spinal analgesia. Repeated skin temperature measurements on 42 occasions (test-retest period of 4 weeks) in eight healthy and 34 diabetic subjects indicated a reliability coefficient of 80%. We conclude, therefore, that the skin vasomotor test provides a valid and reproducible quantitative assessment of skin sympathetic nerve function in upper and lower extremities.

Supratentorial gliomas appeared to be composed of variable percentages of neoplastic oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, but this spectrum did not correspond to a continuous change in prognosis. Gliomas containing 30% or more neoplastic oligodendrocytes had a slightly better outcome (p < 0.0432) but higher percentages did not further improve prognosis. Percentages of neoplastic astrocytes were not correlated to survival. We therefore propose to designate gliomas containing 30% or more neoplastic oligodendrocytes as oligodendroglial tumors, and others as astroglial tumors. From a prognostic point of view there is no need to recognize mixed oligoastrocytomas. An interesting finding was the recognition of a low grade glioma group with Rosenthal fibers, which had the longest postoperative survival. Another prognosticator of interest concerns the mitotic rate as a continuous variable. Atypical mitoses indicated the worst survival, after necrosis. It was possible to develop a grading system for all supratentorial gliomas using six reproducible histological parameters: necrosis, atypical mitoses, the mitotic rate, endothelial proliferative activity, percentage of neoplastic oligodendrocytes and Rosenthal fibers. This resulted in four grades for astroglial tumors (p < 0.002) and three grades for oligodendroglial tumors (p < 0.008) which differed significantly within each group with respect to survival.