Reduced brachial flow-mediated vasodilation in young adult ex extremely low birth weight preterm: a condition predictive of increased cardiovascular risk?

BACKGROUND: Sporadic data present in literature report how preterm birth and low birth weight constitute the risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases in later life. AIM: To assess the presence of potential alterations to endothelial function in young adults born preterm at extremely low birth weight (<1000 g; ex ELBW). METHOD: Thirty-two ex-ELBW subjects (10 males [M] and 22 females [F], aged 17-28 years, mean [+/- DS] 20.1 +/- 2.5 years) were compared with 32 healthy, age-matched subjects born at term (C, 9 M and 23 F). EXCLUSION CRITERIA: 1) pathological conditions known to affect endothelial function; 2) administration of drugs known to affect endothelial function. Endothelial function was assessed by non-invasive finger plethysmography, previously validated by the US Food and Drug Administration (Endopath; Itamar Medical Ltd., Cesarea, Israel). RESULTS: Endothelial function was significantly reduced in ex-ELBW subjects compared to C (1.94 +/- 0.37 vs. 2.68 +/- 0.41, p < 0.0001). Moreover, this function correlated significantly with gestational age (r = 0.56, p < 0.0009) and birth weight (r = 0.63, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained reveal a significant decrease in endothelial function of ex-ELBW subjects compared to controls, underlining a probable correlation with preterm birth and low birth weight. Taken together, these results suggest that an ELBW may underlie the onset of early circulatory dysfunction predictive of increased cardiovascular risk.