Vascular Endothelial Function Of Healthy Elderly Brachial Artery Ultrasound Imaging Method

Objective To evaluate the vascular endothelial function by the high-resolution ultrasound in healthy elderly. Methods The changes of brachial artery internal diameter under the reactive hyperaemia situation or after taking nitroglycerin (0.6mg) in 60 healthy elderly were respectively evaluated by color Doppler ultrasound, and compared with those of young control group. Results The endothelium-depended dilatation was attendated significantly in healthy elderly than in young control subjects [(11.31 ?.86)% vs (16.58 + 5.47)% p<0.05].The degree of flow-mediated dilatation was inversely related to aging (r=-0.67,p<0.05) and TC(r=-0.45,p<0.05) and LDL-C(r=-0.41,p<0.05).There was no difference of changes of brachial artery internal diameter between men and women either in both groups or between the two groups after taking nitroglycerin. Conclusions The study indicated that the ability of endothelium-depended dilatation was damaged in healthy elderly, which related inversely to aging , TC and LDL-C and color Doppler ultrasound is a simple , accurate and effective method to evaluate the brachial artery endothelial function of elderly.