Because complaints of cold extremities are a frequent side effect of beta-adrenoceptor blocking drugs, we assessed Finger Skin Temperature (FST) during a standardized Finger Cooling Test (FCT) in 51 normals and in 50 hypertensive patients after long term treatment with beta-adrenoceptor blockers. In the 29 hypertensive patients with complaints of cold extremities the recovery of FST after cold challenge was significantly worse as compared to the 21 hypertensive patients without complaints. Hypertensive women who used beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents showed lower FST-values after the cold test in comparison to hypertensive men. No difference in recovery of FST were found between the users of non-selective and selective beta-adrenoceptor blockers. We conclude that the FCT is a suitable method to detect a decreased ability of vasodilate during chronic beta-adrenoceptor blockade in hypertensive patients.