The origin of the concept that digital blood vessels vasoconstrict in response to cold temperatures and thus cause the clinical problem of episodic cutaneous color changes is credited to Maurice Raynaud following his 1862 thesis.<sup>95 Raynaud M. On local asphyxia and symmetrical gangrene of the extremities Selected Monographs, 121. London: The Syndenham Society (1888).  1-199 trans.

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> The term Raynaud's disease was used to describe these attacks until Hutchison<sup>55 Hutchison J. Raynaud's phenomenon Med Press 1901 ;  123 : 403-405

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> (and others) argued that multiple etiologies and not one disease could cause vasospasm. He suggested that a more appropriate term for this vascular disorder would be Raynaud's phenomenon. The astute observations and studies of Sir Thomas Lewis<sup>70 Lewis T. Experiments relating to the peripheral mechanism involved in spasmodic arrest of the circulation of the fingers. A variety of Raynaud's disease Heart 1929 ;  14 : 7-101

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> confirmed that important physiologic and clinical differences distinguished idiopathic Raynaud's and secondary Raynaud's (especially in patients with scleroderma). In 1932 Allen and Brown<sup>2 Allen E.V., Brown G.E. Raynaud's disease: A critical review of minimal requisites for diagnosis Am J Med Sci 1932 ;  183 : 187-200  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> defined clinical criteria to separate Raynaud's disease from secondary Raynaud's phenomenon. Subsequently, idiopathic Raynaud's disease and primary Raynaud's disease became popular terms for the subset of patients who had no definable cause for these vascular events. Some authors prefer the term Raynaud's syndrome<sup>91 Porter J.M., Bardana E.J., Baur G.M. , e al. The clinical significance of Raynaud's syndrome Surgery 1976 ;  80 : 756-764

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> instead of Raynaud's phenomenon. LeRoy and Medsger<sup>69 LeRoy E.C., Medsger T.A. Raynaud's phenomenon: A proposal for classification Clin Exp Rheumatol 1992 ;  10 : 485-488

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> suggest that these overlapping and sometimes confusing terms be dropped and propose that the terms primary Raynaud's phenomenon and secondary Raynaud's be used because they both simplify classification and cover all patients.