title: Relationship between reduced elasticity of extracardiac vessels and left main stem coronary artery disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the elastic properties of medium-size extracardiac arteries and veins between patients with and without left main stem coronary artery disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  The compliance, distensibility, and incremental elastic modulus (iEmod) of the internal thoracic arteries (n=53), long saphenous veins (n=38), and radial arteries (n=35) from 74 patients undergoing coronary surgery were studied in organ baths. Twenty-four patients had left main stem (LMS) disease and 50 non-LMS coronary disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Internal thoracic arteries from patients with LMS presented significantly lower compliance (-17%) and distensibility (-18%) and significantly higher iEmod (19%) than internal thoracic arteries from patients with non-LMS disease. Radial arteries from patients with LMS presented higher iEmod (50%) than radial arteries from patients with non-LMS disease. Furthermore, long saphenous veins from patients with LMS had reduced compliance (-45%), reduced distensibility (-40%) and increased iEmod (34%) compared to those from patients with non-LMS disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LMS coronary disease is associated with a significantly reduced elasticity of extracardiac arteries and veins compared to non-LMS coronary disease. This finding suggests that widespread vascular elasticity defects may play a role in the development of LMS disease and be responsible for the higher incidence of early and late cardiovascular morbidity observed in this condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Integrative Human Cardiovascular Physiology and Cardiac Surgery Unit, University of Leicester, The Glenfield Hospital, Groby Road, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK. lh63@le.ac.uk
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hadjinikolaou
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kotidis
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galiñanes
mesh_terms: D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004548:Elasticity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000502:physiology*; D013895:Thoracic Arteries / Q000502:physiology*; D014655:Vascular Resistance / Q000502:physiology