Simultaneous noninvasive ipsilateral and contralateral measurements
of spontaneous vasomotion in large conduit arteries of the human
upper limbs.
Porret, C. A., N. Stergiopulos, D. Hayoz, H. R. Brunner, and J. J.
Meister.
Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, Division d Hypertension,
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, 1011 Lausanne,
Switzerland
APStracts 2:0300H, 1995.
We investigated the patterns of vasomotion in various conduit arteries
of the human arm. The internal diameter of the brachial, radial,
ulnar, and digital artery was measured noninvasively in seventeen
healthy volunteers (aged 24-40 years), using a high-precision
ultrasonic echo-tracking device. Under resting conditions, the
radial, ulnar, and digital internal diameter exhibited spontaneous
oscillations (vasomotion) with a relative amplitude ranging from 1 to
5 percent of mean diameter and a fundamental frequency ranging from
0.01 to 0.05 Hz. This oscillatory behavior was either quasi-periodic
or irregular. The low-frequency mode () present in the diameter
signal was identified neither in the heart rate nor in the blood
pressure signal. In order to determine whether the oscillatory
activity was propagative, simultaneous measurements of diameter at
two sites on the right radial artery were performed and revealed no
significant consistent phase-shift. Ipsilateral radial and ulnar
diameters, measured at the wrist level, exhibited similar and
synchronous vasomotion patterns, despite differences in the
amplitude. For all subjects, contralateral measurements, performed at
two symmetrical sites of the radial arteries, showed similar
oscillatory patterns with a strong correlation (0.85 &LT r
&LT 0.99, n = 12). These results suggested the existence of a
global regulatory mechanism which coordinates vasomotion in the large
conduit arteries of the human arm.
Received 5 December 1994; accepted in final form 8 June 1995.
APS Manuscript Number H1064-4.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Heart Circ. Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 18 July 1995.