Disturbed endothelial function of the internal thoracic artery in patients with coronary artery disease.
OBJECTIVE
The internal thoracic artery is an established arterial graft for myocardial revascularization. It never had been investigated, whether there are functional differences in this vessel between patients with or without coronary artery disease.


METHODS
We investigated the left internal thoracic artery of 28 patients (15 with and 13 without coronary artery disease) with a duplex-system at rest and with a handgrip exercise.


RESULTS
Concerning the measured flow velocities at rest there was only a significant difference between the diastolic mean and peak velocity between the two groups, the other investigated parameters demonstrate no significant difference. The peak diastolic and the mean diastolic velocity was less in patients with coronary artery disease during the handgrip-test. The flow reserve was decreased in patients with coronary artery disease (12.6+/-24.0% vs. 32.3+/-30.9%, P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated, that patients with coronary artery disease have a higher peripheral resistance and a lower diastolic velocity of the internal thoracic artery during stress testing. This corresponds to a disturbed vasomotion and may be an early marker of arteriosclerosis.
Marx
Roger
R
Department of Cardiology and Internal Medicine, General Hospital, Gotenstr. 1, 42653, Solingen, Germany. RogerMarx@t-online.de
Jax
Thomas
T
Schannwell
Christiana Mira
CM
Klein
Rolf Michael
RM
Horlitz
Marc
M
Gülker
Hartmut
H
Szabo
Sebastian
S
Hoffmeister
Hans Martin
HM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged