Assessment of vascular function: flow-mediated constriction complements the information of flow-mediated dilatation

Abstract

In the first protocol, FMD and L-FMC were shown to be reciprocally regulated. A blunted FMD may, in certain cases, be an expression of increased resting vascular activation and not only of impaired endothelial function. In the second protocol, a statistical approach showed that implementation of L-FMC provides a better characterisation than FMD of vascular function in cardiovascular disease. Vascular (endothelial) function is a complex phenomenon which requires a multifaceted approach; it is suggested that a combination of L-FMC and FMD will provide additive and complementary information to "traditional" FMD measurements.