The association of endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular events in healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular disease

Michael Shechter, Ibrahim Marai, Saed Marai, Yaniv Sherer, Ben Ami Sela, Micha S. Feinberg, Ardon Rubinstein, Yehuda Shoenfeld

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is recognized as a major factor in the development of atherosclerosis and it has a prognostic value. Objectives: To detect the long-term association of peripheral vascular endothelial function and clinical outcome in healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular disease. Methods: We prospectively assessed brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation in 110 consecutive subjects (46 CVD patients and 64 healthy controls), mean age 57 ± 11 years; 68 were men. After an overnight fast and discontinuation of all medications for ≥ 12 hours, percent improvement in FMD and nitroglycerin-mediated vasodilatation were assessed using high resolution ultrasound. Results: %FMD but not %NTG was significantly lower in CVD patients (9.5 ± 8.0% vs. 13.5 ± 8.0%, P = 0.012) compared to healthy controls (13.4 ± 8.0% vs. 16.7 ± 11.0%, P = 0.084; respectively). In addition, an inverse correlation between %FMD and the number of traditional CVD risk factors was found among all study participants (γ = -0.23, P = 0.015) and healthy controls (γ = -0.23, P = 0.036). In a mean follow-up of 15 ± 2 months, the composite CVD endpoints (all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, hospitalization for heart failure or angina pectoris, stroke, coronary artery bypass grafting and percutaneous coronary interventions) were significantly more common in subjects with FMD < 6% compared to subjects with FMD > 6% (33.3% vs. 12.1%, P < 0.03, respectively). Conclusions: Thus, brachial artery %FMD provides important prognostic information in addition to that derived from traditional risk factor assessment.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)271-276
Number of pages6
JournalIsrael Medical Association Journal
Volume9
Issue number4
StatePublished - Apr 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Atherosclerosis
  • Coronary artery disease
  • Endothelial function

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The association of endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular events in healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular disease'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this