Artery Research

Recently, many promising indices of micro- and macrocirculation have been widely used to promptly detect target organ damage before major cardiovascular events occur. More specifically, nailfold capillaroscopy, fundoscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy, ultrasound, laser speckle contrast analysis and central...

Background: Literature describes differences in Low flow mediated constriction (LFMC) of radial versus brachial artery [1,2]. We investigated whether differences in occlusion induced changes in luminal flow and shear rates could explain the observed radial vs brachial differences in LFMC responses. Methods:...

Background: The range of central blood pressure (BP) found in individuals with high-normal brachial BP overlaps the one found in hypertension (HTN) and normotension. As central BP is possibly a better predictor of cardiovascular (CV) disease, the aim of this study was to determine the risk associated...

Background: Low-flow-Mediated Constriction (LFMC) is considered as a measure of resting endothelial function and is believed to occur in response to reduction in flow during supra-systolic occlusion [1]. However, supra-systolic occlusion may alter flow profile with differential effects on anterograde...

Cerebral pulsatility is an emerging contributor to brain health that reflects the balance between the transmission and damping (i.e. attenuation) of pulsatility through extracranial vessels into the cerebrovasculature. Identifying biological (age, sex) and vascular contributors to pulsatile balance may...

Objective: Pulse pressure amplification (PPA) is described as the amplification of pulse pressure from central arteries to the periphery [1] and individuals with a decreased PPA have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease [2]. Adverse changes in PPA are evident in diabetic populations [3]; however,...

Introduction: It has been long debated whether Arteriograph predicts cardiovascular events and/or all cause mortality, despite that its prognostic value has been proven in systolic heart failure and in myocardial infarction already. However, no data were available about the prognostic value of this method...

Background: Effects of short-term interventions on large artery stiffness assessed by pulse wave velocity (PWV) have mainly been explained by concomitant changes in blood pressure (BP). However, lower body negative pressure (LBNP), which increases sympathetic activity (SA) has a specific effect on PWV...

Aim: To investigate PWV trajectories before and during the lockdown period among Withings Body Cardio bathroom scale users in France, in which a strict total lockdown was imposed, and Germany, in which partial social distancing measures were adopted. Methods: The study population is constituted by Withings...

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to examine the contribution of left ventricular ejection, arterial stiffness and systemic vascular resistance to essential hypertension in children with hypertension. Methods: A total of 81 children aged 7 to 18 years (mean age 14 years) including 31 with...

Background: Resection of a brain arteriovenous malformation (bAVM) can impose several post-operative challenges including post- operative haemorrhage (POH) [1]. The mechanism of such complications remains controversial although deliberately inducing hypotension has proven successful for POH prevention...

Background: Combination of insulin with oral antidiabetic drugs is a valid option, but oral combination therapy emerged as an alternative treatment in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, the effects on blood pressure (BP) and vascular function of such combination therapies is less clear. Methods: In this...

Background: Exaggerated blood pressure (BP) during submaximal exercise independently predicts cardiovascular mortality and identifies uncontrolled high BP not detected at rest. However, thresholds for submaximal exercise BP during clinical exercise testing have never been defined from a large representative...

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) and central blood pressure (BP) in a nationally representative population. Methods: A total of 2029 adults without anti-hypertensive medicine, aged ≥19 years old participated in the 2013–2016 National Nutrition...

Background: The lower limit of cerebral autoregulation (LLA) refers to the mean blood pressure (BP) below which cerebral blood flow becomes pressure-dependent, resulting, among others, in an increased stroke risk. The LLA measured during cardiac surgery, correlates with the vascular measure Ambulatory...

Aims: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with dementia, and abnormal blood pressure (BP), aortic stiffness, and haemodynamics. We aimed to study the contribution of such factors to brain structure and cognition, relative to the contribution of metabolic factors in T2D such as insulin resistance and...

Objective: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by noticeable neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive decline [1]. In addition, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a known etiological hallmark of AD pathogenesis [2]. Recent epidemiological evidence suggests an interplay between arterial stiffness (AS)...

Background: Despite a large number of studies linking cardiovascular diseases and periodontitis (Buhlin et al. 2011; Hansen et al. 2016; Pussinen et al. 2003), few studies make it possible to draw accurate conclusions on the link between periodontitis and arterial stiffness. Endothelial cells maintain...

Background: In young adults, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and hypertension rates are significantly lower in females than males, although the extent to which this is due to differences in body size (body surface area; BSA) is unclear. Cardiac output (CO), a key haemodynamic determinant of SBP in young...

Background: Higher cerebral blood flow (CBF) pulsatility was found to be associated with severer brain white matter lesions in the elderly [1]. It was hypothesized that the central/elastic arterial stiffness/compliance may directly affect CBF pulsatility. However, it is still unclear which carotid stiffness...

Introduction: The skin may protect against the adverse haemodynamic effects of dietary salt by storing excess sodium in an osmotically inactive form, bound to glycosaminoglycans. However, this novel pathway has not been comprehensively studied in humans. Methods: 85 healthy volunteers (37 m, 48 f) <50...

Purpose/Background/Objective: Cognitive decline is highly prevalent amongst end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and is accelerated upon initiation of hemodialysis (HD) [1]. ESRD increases aortic stiffness and blood flow pulsatility, which may damage small vessels of target organs like the brain [2]....

Background & Purpose: The femoral bifurcation houses complex flow recirculation that may be impacted by downstream peripheral resistance; however, conventional ultrasound is unable to quantify multi-directional flow to study these phenomena. The purpose of this study was to examine the multi-directional...

Introduction: Unraveling aortic cellular and extracellular microstructural and mechanical mechanisms triggered to maintain homeostasis in murine aortae during maturation and aging is fundamental to better understand remodeling in human arteriopathies [1]. Methods: This study, combining ex-vivo extension-inflation...

Purpose: Understanding and prediction of ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms (ATAA) progression are not well established yet and aortic dissection is frequently occurring on normally sized and mildly dilated aortas. Despite known theoretical associations between pressures and blood flow patterns there...

Background: Aortic dissection is a devastating condition, beginning with a tear through from intima to the medial layer, leading to splitting of aortic layers and creating the false and true lumen with a septum (or flap). Little is known about the properties of the dissection flap. Aim: To determine...

Objectives: Central pulse pressure (cPP) is responsible for vital organ hemodynamics, [1,2] and its monitoring is important for cardiovascular disease prevention. [3] Excess sodium intake and (micro)albuminuria, a manifestation of renal microvascular damage, are also known as strong predictors of cardiovascular...

Elevation of plasma [K+] and [angiotensin II] (Ang II), two major physiological stimuli of adrenal zona glomerulosa cells, increase aldosterone production by triggering cytosolic Ca2+ signalling. Cytosolic Ca2+ signals are accompanied by mitochondrial Ca2+ elevations which further strengthen this steroidogenic...

Purpose/Background: We previously demonstrated in both longitudinal study and meta-analysis (pooled relative-risk RR, 2.45)[1,2] that all-cause and cardiovascular mortality is significantly higher in people with diabetes foot ulceration (DFU) than with those without a foot ulcer. In this prospective...