BACKGROUND Fontan survivors demonstrate diminished vascular function and functional outcomes, but the relationships between these measures have not been established. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed a cross-sectional study of 60 Fontan survivors (52% male) with a mean age of 13.9±4.1 years and mean Fontan duration of 9.9±4.2 years. Multimodality assessment of endothelial function (reactive hy...

Background. The contour of the common carotid artery (CCA) blood flow velocity waveform changes with age; CCA flow velocity increases during late systole, and this may contribute to cerebrovascular disease. Late systolic flow velocity augmentation can be quantified using the flow augmentation index (FAIx). We examined hemodynamic correlates of FAIx to gain insight into determinants of CCA flow ...

Isolated systolic hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and results primarily from elastic artery stiffening. Although various drug therapies are used to lower peripheral blood pressure (BP) in patients with isolated systolic hypertension, the effects of the 4 major classes of antihypertensive agents on central BP, pulse pressure (PP) amplification, and arterial st...

Age-related changes in cardiac and vascular function are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. The aim of the present study was to define the effect of age on the relationship between cardiac and vascular function. Haemodynamic and gas exchange measurements were performed at rest and peak exercise in healthy individuals. Augmentation index was measured at res...

background: several grafting materials have been used for alveolar ridge augmentation. the literature lacks researches to compare cenobone to other grafting materials. the aim of this study was to compare cenobone/cenomembrane complex to bio-oss/bio-gide complex in lateral alveolar bone augmentation in terms of radiographic, histologic, and histomorphometric parameters. materials and methods: i...

The increased effect of arterial wave reflections on central arteries like the common carotid artery seen in end-stage renal failure (ESRF) patients favors myocardial hypertrophy and oxygen consumption and alters coronary blood flow distribution. Nevertheless, the impact of wave reflection on the outcome and end points such as mortality remains to be demonstrated. One hundred eighty ESRF patien...

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) acutely affects peripheral and coronary vascular tone. Whether ETS exerts specific deleterious effects on aortic wave reflection through nicotine exposure, whether they persist after ETS cessation, and whether the smoke environment impairs microvascular function and increases asymmetrical dimethyl-arginine levels are not known. We tested these hypotheses in a r...

OBJECTIVES We investigated the acute and chronic combined effect of cigarette smoking and caffeine intake on aortic stiffness and wave reflections. BACKGROUND We have shown that smoking and caffeine separately increase arterial stiffness. Aortic stiffness and wave reflections are important determinants of the efficient performance of the cardiovascular system and prognosticators of cardiovasc...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this investigation was to differentiate chronic pulmonary thromboembolism (CPTE) from primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) by means of the indexes of pulmonary arterial reflection. BACKGROUND These differences in the primary lesions would make pulmonary artery reflection occur earlier in CPTE than in PPH. Although the analysis of pulsatility of pulmonary arterial pre...

Arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics attract increasing scientific interest within the hypertensive community during the last decade. Accumulating evidence indicates that aortic stiffness is a strong and independent predictor of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in hypertensive patients, and its predictive value extends beyond traditional risk factors. The role of central hem...