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Brachial Artery Pulsatility Index Change 1 Minute After 5‐Minute Forearm Compression
Author(s) -
Martins Wellington P.,
Nastri Carolina O.,
Ferriani Rui A.,
Filho Francisco Mauad
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of ultrasound in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1550-9613
pISSN - 0278-4297
DOI - 10.7863/jum.2008.27.5.693
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiology , waist , brachial artery , intraclass correlation , blood pressure , body mass index , sphygmomanometer , pulse pressure , arterial stiffness , clinical psychology , psychometrics
Objective. Endothelial impairment evaluation by sonographic measurement of flow‐mediated dilatation (FMD) has become broadly used. However, this method has 2 main caveats: the dilatation depends on the baseline arterial diameter, and a high precision level is required. Vasodilatation leads to an amplified fall in impedance. We hypothesized that assessment of the pulsatility index change (PI‐C) 1 minute after 5‐minute forearm compression might evaluate that fall in impedance. The aim of this study was to compare the PI‐C with FMD. Methods. Flow‐mediated dilatation and the PI‐C were assessed in 51 healthy women aged between 35.1 and 67.1 years. We correlated both FMD and the PI‐C with age, body mass index, waist circumference, cholesterol level, high‐density lipoprotein level, glucose level, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, brachial artery diameter, simplified Framingham score, intima‐media thickness, and carotid stiffness index. Intraclass correlation coefficients between 2 FMD and PI‐C measurements were also examined. Results. Only FMD correlated with baseline brachial diameter ( r = −0.53). The PI‐C had a high correlation with age, body mass index, waist circumference, cholesterol level, systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, simplified Framingham score, and intima‐media thickness. The correlation between FMD and the PI‐C was high ( r = −0.66). The PI‐C had a higher intraclass correlation coefficient (0.991) than FMD (0.836) but not brachial artery diameter (0.989). Conclusions. The PI‐C had a large correlation with various markers of cardiovascular risk. Additionally, PI‐C measurement does not require offline analysis, extra software, or electrocardiography. We think that the PI‐C could be considered a marker of endothelial function. However, more studies are required before further conclusions.