Raynaud Disease

Lewis and Pickering (1933) described 2 British families with multiple persons suffering from intermittent attacks of numb and white fingers. One family had 9 cases in 2 generations, the second 14 cases in 3 generations. Males and females were equally affected and several instances of male-to-male transmission were noted. Using the Allen and Brown (1932) criteria, Freedman and Mayes (1996) examined the prevalence of primary Raynaud disease in the first-degree relatives of 23 newly identified patients. Spouses and their first-degree relatives were used as the control group. The prevalence of Raynaud disease was significantly higher in the families of the probands than in control families both by questionnaire (26% vs 6%) and by physical exam (11% vs 3%).