Blood flow velocity and vascular resistance during passive leg exercise in the critically ill patient.

Passive range of motion exercise is a very common physical therapy treatment for patients admitted to an intensive care unit. However is the knowledge scarce regarding its impact on blood circulation in the extremities. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate the effect of passive range of motion on arterial peripheral leg blood flow velocity (BFV) and vascular resistance.

Functional assessment of high-grade ICA stenosis with duplex ultrasound and transcranial Doppler.

Background: Duplex ultrasound (DUS) has shown a >90% accuracy compared to angiography, concerning the degree of internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. However, uncertainty may occur in a severe stenosis, in which peak systolic velocity (PSV) may decrease owing to high flow resistance or high backward pressure. We investigated intracranial collateral flows using transcranial Doppler (TCD) to further evaluate the hemodynamic significance of high-grade ICA stenosis.

Reduced cardiac vagal activity in obese children and adolescents.

Objective:   Obese children present with various cardiovascular risk factors affecting their future health. In adults, cardiac autonomic function is a major risk factor, predicting cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We hypothesized that obese children and adolescents had a lower cardiac vagal activity than lean subjects.

Sex differences in peripheral artery intima, media and intima media thickness in children and adolescents.

Objective: Males have higher coronary heart disease (CHD) lifetime risk and increased magnitude of atherosclerosis, compared with women. Using very high-resolution ultrasound, we have shown that the intima thickness (IT) of radial and dorsal pedal arteries, measured separately from the media thickness (MT), increases with age. We wanted to test whether there is already a difference between the sexes in childhood for IT, MT and intima media thickness (IMT) in the radial and dorsal pedal arteries.

Obese children show increased intimal wall thickness and decreased pulse wave velocity.

Objective: Childhood obesity confers an increased risk of vascular changes and adult cardiovascular disease. Using a high-resolution ultrasound technique that enables separation of intimal and medial layers, we examined the intimal thickness (IT) and intimal-medial thickness (IMT) of radial (RA) and dorsal pedal (DPA) arteries and the pulse wave velocity (PWV) in overweight/obese children and adolescents and in healthy subjects.

Methods And Results: IT and IMT of RA and DPA and PWV were measured in 33 obese children and adolescents (13.

Imaging of atherosclerosis in WHHL rabbits using high-resolution ultrasound.

Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbits provide an animal model of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerotic progression. However, a large individual variation in plaque progression rate calls for serial investigations, as do treatment studies. In contrast to histopathology, transthoracic ultrasound imaging of the aortic arch is a noninvasive technique suitable for repeated investigations.

Increasing peripheral artery intima thickness from childhood to seniority.

Background: Using new, very high-resolution ultrasound biomicroscopy, we examined the thickness of artificial layers of silicone and intima thickness (IT) of radial and anterior tibial arteries in healthy subjects and in patients with vascular disease.

Methods And Results: Silicone layers of varying thicknesses and mesenteric artery specimens obtained from 18 patients undergoing colectomy were measured by both ultrasound biomicroscopy (55 MHz) and morphometry. There was high correlation (r>0.

Physical exercise capacity is associated with coronary and peripheral vascular function in healthy young adults.

Short-term exercise training has been shown to improve cardiovascular function, whereas long-term effects of a physically active lifestyle, on coronary artery function in particular, are still not well studied. We explored possible relationships between physical exercise capacity and coronary and peripheral vascular function in healthy young adults. Twenty-nine healthy young male and female volunteers participated in the study.

A novel cellular marker of insulin resistance and early atherosclerosis in humans is related to impaired fat cell differentiation and low adiponectin.

The epidemic increase in type 2 diabetes can be prevented only if markers of risk can be identified and used for early intervention. We examined the clinical phenotype of individuals characterized by normal or low IRS-1 protein expression in fat cells as well as the potential molecular mechanisms related to the adipose tissue. Twenty-five non-obese individuals with low or normal IRS-1 expression in subcutaneous abdominal fat cells were extensively characterized and the results compared with 71 carefully matched subjects with or without a known genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes.