A novel effective method for the assessment of microvascular function in male patients with coronary artery disease: a pilot study using laser speckle contrast imaging

Abstract

Evaluation of microvascular endothelial function is essential for investigating the pathophysiology and treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Although laser speckle contrast imaging technology is well accepted as a noninvasive methodology for assessing microvascular endothelial function, it has never been used to compare male patients with coronary artery disease with male age-matched healthy controls. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine whether laser speckle contrast imaging could be used to detect differences in the systemic microvascular functions of patients with established cardiovascular disease (n=61) and healthy age-matched subjects (n=24). Cutaneous blood flow was assessed in the skin of the forearm using laser speckle contrast imaging coupled with the transdermal iontophoretic delivery of acetylcholine and post-occlusive reactive hyperemia. The maximum increase in skin blood flow induced by acetylcholine was significantly reduced in the cardiovascular disease patients compared with the control subjects (74 vs 116%; P<0.01). With regard to post-occlusive reactive hyperemia-induced vasodilation, the patients also presented reduced responses compared to the controls (0.42±0.15 vs 0.50±0.13 APU/mmHg; P=0.04). In conclusion, laser speckle contrast imaging can identify endothelial and microvascular dysfunctions in male individuals with cardiovascular disease. Thus, this technology appears to be an efficient non-invasive technique for evaluating systemic microvascular and endothelial functions, which could be valuable as a peripheral marker of atherothrombotic diseases in men.

Evaluation of systemic microvascular reactivity in adults with congenital heart disease

“…Notably, the baseline blood flow was higher in the cutaneous microcirculation of the ACHD than in the healthy controls. Previous studies from our group using LSCI found no significant difference in the baseline microvascular blood flow in patients with coronary artery disease or systemic arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia compared to the control group. Similarly, studies with LDF found no significant difference between the baseline cutaneous microcirculation in patients with HF and healthy individuals .…”

“…The literature available to date only allows us to speculate on the pathophysiological mechanisms involved. The use of drugs is an unlikely hypothesis if we consider that patients with hypertension, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, and HF certainly use cardiovascular drugs and therefore do not present a baseline blood flow in the cutaneous microcirculation that is significantly different from that of healthy individuals . In addition, our results did not change significantly when the patients taking sildenafil were withdrawn from the analysis.…”

“…The results of previous studies from our group indicated that patients with systemic arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia and patients with coronary artery disease had lower microvascular cutaneous reactivity than healthy controls when evaluated by LSCI coupled to ACh iontophoresis. To the best of our knowledge, no studies to date have used this method in patients with HF or congenital heart disease.…”

Stem cells enhance reperfusion following ischemia: Validation using laser speckle imaging in predicting tissue repair

“…The level of blurring is quantified by the speckle contrast. By obtaining an image of the speckle pattern and quantifying the blurring of the speckles through measurements of the spatial intensity differences in the speckle pattern, spatial maps of the relative blood flow can be obtained …”

Increased vascular function and superoxide dismutase activity in physically active vs inactive adults living with HIV

“…Microvascular reactivity was evaluated by laser speckle contrast imaging with laser wavelength of 785 nm (PeriCam PSI system, Perimed™, Järfälla, Sweden) in combination with iontophoresis of acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Image acquisition and analysis were performed using PIMSoft software (Perimed™, Järfälla, Sweden) according to manufacturer's instructions …”