Arterial stiffness and endothelial function in patients with β-thalassemia major

Increased iron store has been linked to risk of cardiovascular disease. Structural alterations of arteries in beta-thalassemia major patients and in vitro functional disturbance of vascular endothelial cells by thalassemic serum have been described. We sought to determine whether arterial stiffness...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Circulation (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2002-11, Vol.106 (20), p.2561-2566
Main Authors: CHEUNG, Y. F, CHAN, Godfrey C. F, HA, S. Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Arteries - physiopathology
Atherosclerosis (general aspects, experimental research)
beta-Thalassemia - blood
beta-Thalassemia - diagnostic imaging
beta-Thalassemia - physiopathology
Biological and medical sciences
Blood and lymphatic vessels
Brachial Artery - cytology
Brachial Artery - physiopathology
Cardiology. Vascular system
Carotid Arteries - physiopathology
Compliance
Echocardiography
Endothelium, Vascular - physiopathology
Female
Ferritins - blood
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Vasodilation
Ventricular Function, Left
Ventricular Remodeling
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Summary:Increased iron store has been linked to risk of cardiovascular disease. Structural alterations of arteries in beta-thalassemia major patients and in vitro functional disturbance of vascular endothelial cells by thalassemic serum have been described. We sought to determine whether arterial stiffness and endothelial function are altered in vivo. Thirty thalassemia patients (16 male) aged 22.2+/-7.4 years were recruited. Left ventricular (LV) mass and function were assessed echocardiographically. Carotid and brachioradial artery stiffness was assessed by stiffness index and pulse-wave velocity (PWV), respectively. Brachial artery endothelial function was assessed by vascular response to reactive hyperemia (flow-mediated dilation [FMD]) and sublingual glyceryl trinitrate. These indexes were compared with those of 30 age- and sex-matched controls. None of the patients had LV systolic or diastolic dysfunction. When compared with controls, patients had greater absolute (113.8+/-38.0 versus 109.0+/- 32.6 g, P=0.04) and indexed (82.4+/-17.5 versus 66.7+/-12.7 g/m(2), P
ISSN:0009-7322
1524-4539
DOI:10.1161/01.CIR.0000037225.92759.A7