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Repeatability of Reactive Hyperemia Flow‐Mediated Dilation in the Superficial Femoral Artery
Author(s) -
Schmitter Sarah,
King Trevor,
Pyke Kyra
Publication year - 2015
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.29.1_supplement.lb592
Subject(s) - medicine , reactive hyperemia , cuff , brachial artery , occlusion , repeatability , cardiology , blood flow , femoral artery , nuclear medicine , surgery , blood pressure , chemistry , chromatography
Reactive hyperemia (RH) is induced via the release of a temporary limb occlusion and causes a transient increase in artery shear stress. Flow‐mediated dilation stimulated by RH (RH‐FMD) is a standard index of endothelial function in the brachial artery however, relatively few studies have assessed RH‐FMD in the superficial femoral artery (SFA). The purpose of this study was to determine the repeatability of RH‐FMD in the SFA. SFA RH‐FMD was measured in 19 subjects (10 males and 9 females; age: 24 ± 2 years). Subjects performed four 5‐minute occlusion RH trials in a seated position with the cuff placed above the knee. Six minutes of recovery followed cuff release. SFA diameter and blood velocity were assessed using echo and Doppler ultrasound, respectively. Shear stress was estimated using shear rate (SR = mean blood velocity/SFA diameter). RH‐FMD was calculated as the % increase from baseline diameter to the peak 3 second diameter measurement post occlusion release. Results are expressed as mean ± SD. The RH SR area under the curve (AUC) for the 30 seconds following cuff release was higher in trial 1 versus trial 2 and 3 (p < 0.001 and p = 0.021). There were no differences in %RH‐FMD across trials (RH trial 1: 5.2 ± 2.6%, trial 2: 5.0 ± 2.3%, trial 3: 4.5 ± 2.2%, and trial 4: 5.0 ± 2.9%, p = 0.465). FMD normalized to the SR AUC also did not differ between trials (p = 0.879). In conclusion, despite some variability in the SR stimulus, there was no systematic change in %RH‐FMD over four repeated trials. Funded by NSERC and CFI