RESUMO
UNLABELLED: Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) is used to qualify vascular endothelial function. AIM: To evaluate the feasibility of real-time assessment of the stimulus-to-response (i. e. flow-velocity-to-diameter) relationship, repeated FMD was assessed in healthy subjects. METHODS: Brachial artery diameter and flow velocity were measured simultaneously in 10 healthy male subjects lying in the supine position. These parameters were registered in real-time mode and beat-to-beat by means of a 7.5 MHz linear array transducer attached to a custom-built Wall Track System and an 8 MHz continuous wave Doppler. RESULTS: Post-ischaemic increase in arterial diameter amounted to 5.9 +/- 2.9 % with an average increase in blood flow velocity of 487 +/- 174 %. The relative change in diameter was not correlated to the relative increase in flow velocity. CONCLUSION: Continuous registration of FMD can be performed. Motion artefacts, however, interfere with the real-time registration of FMD.