Brachial Artery Wall Stiffness Assessment by Shear Wave Elastography: A Promising New Diagnostic Tool for Endothelial Dysfunction Detection

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to measure the changes in brachial artery wall stiffness by shear wave elastography (SWE) and evaluate the accuracy of SWE changes for detection of endothelial dysfunction. METHODS: Sixty-five consecutive participants (19 patients with atherosclerosis proven by coronary angiography, 16 healthy young adults, 15 patients with cardiovascular risk factors, and 15 healthy older adults between 50 and 60 years) were prospectively included in this study. They were examined in the same week by SWE, and flow-mediated dilatation was evaluated for each patient. RESULTS: The mean flow-mediated dilatation values ± 2 SDs after forearm occlusion were 8.54% ± 1.4% in healthy young adults, 7.61% ± 1.4% in healthy older adults, 5.83% ± 0.7% in patients with risk factors (P < .001), and 3.81% ± 2.4% in patients with atherosclerosis (P < .001, with respect to the risk factor group). There was a significant decrease in stiffness measurements in parallel with the increase in flow-mediated dilatation: 19.9% ± 6.3% in healthy young adults, 16.3% ± 5.1% in healthy older adults, 9.8% ± 5.4% in patients with risk factors (P < .05 with respect to the group with no risk factors), and 7.8% ± 6.4% in patients with atherosclerosis (P < .001 with respect to the healthy older adults). CONCLUSIONS: Shear wave elastography in combination with flow-mediated dilatation could be a promising, widely available noninvasive diagnostic tool for detecting endothelial dysfunction.