Key result
Polycythaemia vera was associated with significantly impaired flow-mediated vasodilatation compared to matched controls (7.6% vs 11.6%, P=0.009), indicating early endothelial dysfunction.
Why the study?
Is polycythaemia vera associated with impaired endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation in patients without clinical evidence of artery disease?
Case-Control (n=40)
Is polycythaemia vera associated with impaired endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation in patients without clinical evidence of artery disease?
Absolute Event Rate: 7.6% vs 11.6%
p-value: p=0.009
Polycythaemia vera is associated with endothelial dysfunction in the pre-clinical phase of arterial disease, independent of haematocrit values and platelet counts.
May indicate pre-clinical vascular risk in polycythaemia vera; leaves open whether endothelial-targeted interventions alter outcomes.
Patients with polycythaemia vera (PV) are at increased risk of developing arterial and venous thromboembolic complications. We investigated whether endothelium-dependent, flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) is impaired in PV patients without clinical evidence of artery disease as observed in patients with conventional cardiovascular risk factors. FMD and endothelium-independent, nitroglycerine-induced vasodilatation (NMD) were assessed using high-resolution ultrasound in the brachial artery of 20 patients with PV and 20 sex- and age-matched control subjects (CTL). FMD was markedly impaired in PV patients compared with CTL (7.6 +/- 2.9% versus 11.6 +/- 5.7%, P = 0.009) whereas NMD was similar in both study groups. The impairment of FMD was independently related to the presence of PV (r = -0.434, P = 0.009) and vessel size (r = -0.107, P = 0.038) but was not related to haematocrit values and platelet counts. The results demonstrate that PV is associated with endothelial dysfunction in the pre-clinical phase of arterial disease. However, the precise mechanisms by which PV leads to this altered vascular reactivity remain unclear.
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Neunteufl et al. (2001) conducted a case-control in Polycythaemia vera (n=40). Polycythaemia vera vs. Sex- and age-matched control subjects was evaluated on Endothelium-dependent, flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) (p=0.009). Polycythaemia vera was associated with significantly impaired flow-mediated vasodilatation compared to matched controls (7.6% vs 11.6%, P=0.009), indicating early endothelial dysfunction.
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