Endothelial Function in Children and Adolescents Is Mainly Influenced by Age, Sex and Physical Activity - An Analysis of Reactive Hyperemic Peripheral Artery Tonometry.

Background: As adolescents rarely experience cardiovascular events, surrogate markers of atherosclerosis are useful to justify and monitor effects of primary prevention and therapy of risk factors. Endothelial function assessed by reactive hyperemic peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT) resulting in a reactive hyperemic index (RHI) is a noninvasive method with limited data for use in children and adolescents.

Methods and results: We performed a total of 931 RHI measurements in 445 high-school students, aged 10-17 years, over a time period of 5 years.