Is Impaired Flow-Mediated Dilatation of the Brachial Artery a Cardiovascular Risk Factor?
Stefan Agewall Endothelial dysfunction is thought to be an important factor in the development of atherosclerosis. Over the past decade, a non-invasive technique has evolved to evaluate flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD), an endothelium-dependent function, in the brachial artery. FMD decreases with increasing age and subjects with diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, smokers and hypertension have decreased FMD. There are a few concise studies reporting that FMD predicts cardiovascular events. However, the assumption that focal measurement of brachial artery FMD predicts coronary artery disease deserves further investigation. [Back to top] [Purchase Issue/Articles] Endothelial Therapy of Atherosclerosis and its Risk Factors Tobias Traupe , Jana Ortmann , Klaus Munter and Matthias Barton Atherosclerosis is a chronic systemic disease of the vasculature with an inflammatory component. It accounts for the majority of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in industrialized countries and i
