Artery Research

Background. Evidence-based thresholds for risk stratification based on pulse pressure (PP) are currently unavailable. Methods. To derive outcome-driven thresholds for the 24-h ambulatory PP, we analyzed 9938 people randomly recruited from 11 populations (47.3% women). After age stratification (<60...

Background: The Valsalva manoeuvre (VM) is a physiological manoeuvre capable of generating profound changes in venous return. Although its physiology has been extensively described, the predominant focus has been on dynamic effects on cardiac preload with subsequent impact on cardiac output. However,...

Arterial stiffness (AS) is generally measured by regional arterial pulse wave velocity (rPWV) or locally by arterial distensibility. Although often used interchangeably, some studies show a weak correlation between these well accepted AS index depending on population. Thus, we aim to investigate in an...

Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is the most widely used technique for assessing endothelial function in humans. FMD is reduced in the presence of cardiovascular risk factors and diseases and it is an independent predictor of events. However, its major limitation is the relatively low reproducibility....

Background. Arterial stiffness is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) is considered as the ‘gold standard’ measurement method. However cfPWV does not assess the stiffness of the proximal aorta and its sensitivity at higher...

Systolic pressure, Ps, and pulse pressure, PP, are determined by heart and arterial system. We here compare systemic arterial system characterizations alone, and mention their use and limitations (aspects). 1.Peripheral resistance, Rp. Required: Mean Pressure and Cardiac Output; Characterization:...

Background: Transient ischemic attacks and stroke are commonly caused by vulnerable plaques in the carotid bulb. Noninvasive ultrasound imaging techniques, revealing spatial inhomogeneities in strain distribution, could possibly improve the timely diagnosis of plaque at risk of rupturing. Methods: In...

It is known that telomere length (TL) shortening is a marker of cell aging, which accelerated and progresses in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), despite the patient’s age, leading to the vascular aging. The aim of the study was to compare the vascular and cellular aging in patients with and without...

Background: There is increasing evidence that central (aortic) blood pressure (BP) may be a more important determinant of cardiovascular risk than brachial BP. Most of actual devices to assess central BP non-invasively are partially operator-dependent, or rely on the detection of the late systolic shoulder...

Objective. Hypertension is a frequent side effect of antiangiogenic drugs (AAD). Targeting VEGF pathway may also affect large and small artery properties, along with or independently of blood pressure changes. We hypothesized that large and small artery property changes in response to AAD reflect their...

Endothelium derived nitric oxide (NO) increases conduit artery distensibility, through relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. Barosensory wall distensibility influences the mechanical component of baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) by modifying the baroreceptor stimulus. NO bioavailability may also affect the...

Objective. Whilst the effects of heart rate (HR) on the cardiovascular system have been studied cross-sectionally or during exercise, the effect of acute, sympathetic-independent changes in HR on arterial stiffness, cardiac output (CO), mean pressure (MAP) and total peripheral resistance (TPR) has not...

Brachial artery reactivity following compression is used as a surrogate marker of endothelial function. Brachial diameter increases exceeding 10% indicate normal endothelial function. We investigated if basal brachial artery tone influenced brachial artery reactivity. One hundred never smoking, healthy,...

Background. No longitudinal study addressed whether systolic blood pressure level (SBPL) or variability (SBPV) predict arterial properties or vice versa. Methods and Results. In families randomly recruited from a Flemish population, we determined SBPL and SBPV from 5 consecutive blood pressure readings....

Windkessel (WK) models have often been used to simulate the arterial circulation. We studied a critical characteristic of WK function, the arterial pressure-decay constant tau, to test whether all arterial regions share the same WK characteristics, which should theoretically be related to arterial stiffness....

Introduction: The non-invasive analysis of plaque echolucency (ECL) with Adobe Photoshop® has proven to reduce the subjectivity of ultrasonic evaluation of atherosclerosis. However, ECL provides information concerning only one of the aspects that contribute to vulnerability (plaque echodensity). Hemodyn...

Introduction. Assessing arterial properties and hemodynamics in response to a physiological perturbation might provide additional information on an individual’s “vascular health”. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of measuring changes in carotid stiffness and hemodynamics in response...

Background: Despite the introduction of arterial stiffness measurements in the recommendation of the European Societies for Hypertension and Cardiology, pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (Aix) are still not used routinely in clinical practice. Possibly, current techniques, although non-invasive,...

Objective. Physical activity (PA) has been associated with reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, improvements in conventional risk factors do not explain the full benefit of PA on CVD risk. Therefore, we examined the association between PA and central haemodynamics to provide new insight into...

Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. However, PWV is usually determined between the carotid and femoral sites, ignoring the proximal ascending aorta which may stiffen most with age. We tested this hypothesis by assessing regional PWV and aortic diameter...

The continuous monitoring of arterial stiffness during pharmacological and dynamic stress is an intriguing and partially unexplored topic. In this work we present a new method for the continuous assessment of the aortic-to-carotid pulse transit time (PTT), which is inversely proportional to the pulse...

Objective: To examine the influence of calibration of peripheral blood pressure on the estimation of central systolic blood pressure (cSBP) from peripheral arterial waveforms using a transfer function. Methods: Central aortic pressure was measured with a pressure tipped catheter (Millar, Houston, Texas)...

Background. Pulse wave analysis (PWA) using cuff based methods emerged within the last years. Compared to traditional sensors used in PWA like catheters and piezo gauges very little is known on the frequency response of cuff based systems according to standard measurement and systems theory. Therefore...

Although the viscoelasticity of large arteries has been extensively investigated, few studies have focused on arterial wall viscosity (AWV) itself and its regulation by the endothelium in vivo. This is of particular importance since AWV is a major source of energy dissipation through the vascular system...

Background. Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is widely recognised as an effective surgical method in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with significant internal carotid artery stenosis. Although the association between vulnerable carotid plaques and stroke is well established, little is known about...

Objectives: Anatomical and physiological data on the forearm venous vascular bed is needed to (i) gain insight into the complex arterial and venous remodeling processes after creation of an arterio-venous fistula, and (ii) provide input data for computer models of the forearm vasculature. Methods: Ultrasound...

Background. No prospective study has examined whether markers of the central hemodynamics, e.g., central pulse pressure, might be a more robust marker of change in the cardiac hemodynamic load, estimated by the change during the study period of the serum levels of N-terminal fragment B-type natriuretic...

Role and function of the Carotid Intima Media Thickness (CIMT) and atherosclerotic Plaque (P) in clinical management of cardiovascular risk factors is yet unclear. Cardiovascular Risk Factor Stratification (SCORE) and CIMT with P typing and visualization were assessed in 269 asymptomatic individuals...

Background. Organic nitrates (e.g. nitroglycerin) are highly selective dilators of muscular conduit arteries. By contrast, the endogenous inorganic nitrite anion (NO2−) is thought to be a hypoxia-dependent dilator of small resistance arterioles, via its reduction to vasodilating nitric oxide (NO) by...

Background: prolonged circulatory unloading associated with head-down tilt bed rest (HDTBR) is followed by cardiovascular deconditioning. Aim of the study was to investigate to what extent large artery function and arterial-ventricular coupling (VA) are involved. Methods: ten healthy male volunteers...

Cardiovascular fibrosis is a hallmark of aging. We had previously demonstrated, that a steroidal endogenous Na/K-ATPase inhibitor, marinobufagenin (MBG), plays a central role in cardiac fibrosis occurring in the context of experimental uremic cardiomyopathy (Hypertension 2007;49:215–24) via participation...

Objective. Pressure wave reflection poses a load on the heart often augmenting pressure and adversely affecting cardiac output. Reflection effects are age dependent and may be altered by sympathetic activation by postural stress. We sought to determine the influence of standing on wave reflection and...

Background. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk that is not explained by traditional cardiovascular risk factors, as well as an increased arterial stiffness. In this study, we investigated the relationship between inflammation and arterial stiffening and...

Background. The anticontractile effect of perivascular adipose tissue(PVAT) is lost in obese patients due to adipocyte hypertrophy, leading to hypoxia, inflammation, and oxidative stress(Circulation 2009; 119(12):1661–1670).We recently demonstrated that the property of PVAT, partially maintained in an...

Objective: Atosiban and ritodrine are frequently used tocolytics. Only a few studies investigated the hemodynamic effects of atosiban. We therefore aimed to study the central and peripheral hemodynamics of both medications. Methods: Twenty healthy female volunteers (19–41 yrs) were given atosiban (300...

Objective: Atosiban (oxytocin-antagonist) and ritodrine (β-agonist) are frequently used tocolytics. Only a few studies investigated the hemodynamic effects of atosiban. We therefore aimed to study the effects on the blood pressure (BP) and BP-amplification. Methods: Twenty healthy female volunteers...