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Venous ‘creep’ does not contribute to limb volume changes during venous distension
Author(s) -
Bishop Gemma Dawn,
Balanos George M,
Brown Margaret D
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.a1403-b
Limb volume increases during venous distension are due to vascular filling, fluid filtration and visco‐elastic ‘creep’ of the venous vessel wall, which may be susceptible to hormonal influences. This study used Doppler ultrasound imaging of the saphenous vein during venous distension (thigh cuff inflation to 50 mmHg, 5 min) to investigate whether ‘creep’ contributes to the volume response in six men (age 25 ± 2 (SD) yrs, height 180 ± 7 cms, weight 78 ± 9 kg). Reproducibility of vein cross sectional area measurements (test‐retest) showed a 95% confidence interval of ± 0.001 cm 2 . During 5 min of venous distension, calf volume (mercury strain gauge) increased by 2.2 ± 0.2 (SE) %. After 1 min, vein cross sectional area increased by 40 ± 11 % from baseline of 0.125 ± 0.027 cm 2 (P<0.02 paired t‐test). After 5 min, vein area had not increased further (49 ± 12 % increase from baseline, NS v. 1 min). Distension was repeated with inflation of a thigh cuff to 80 mmHg for 8–10 secs at 1 min and 5 min to measure blood flow. The increase in calf volume (2.2 ± 0.2 %) and changes in vein cross sectional area during distension (40 ± 7 % after 1min, 45 ± 9 % after 5 min) were not altered by transient cuff inflations. The results suggest that there is no time‐dependent ‘creep’ of conduit veins in the calves of men in response to venous distension. It remains to be determined whether it is evident in women. Supported by SSES, University of Birmingham, UK.