Reproducibility of a New Method to Assess Endothelial Function According to Peripheral Arterial Volume

Abstract

Background: The assessment of endothelial function is crucial for understanding cardiovascular disease progression. Reliable, convenient non-invasive methods are necessary for evaluating endothelial function. Peripheral arterial volume (PAV), measured at the fingertip, is a novel approach for which limited reproducibility data are available. Hence, this study was aimed at evaluating PAV measurement reproducibility in a clinical setting. Method: A total of 152 consecutive patients (average age 55.8 ± 12.3 years, 83 men) with chest pain were included in the study. PAV tests were conducted on the same day. The amplitude ratio before and after application of pressure, along with the reference ratio, were recorded to calculate the PAV. Medical baseline data for these patients were gathered from the hospital’s records. Result: On test days, the PAV results from repeated measurements were 1.15 ± 0.33 and 1.15 ± 0.31 (P = 0.99), indicating no significant difference between measurements in all participants. The mean difference was 0.00 ± 0.32, thus indicating no systematic errors, and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.66. Furthermore, age, sex, and BMI did not influence PAV reproducibility. Conclusion: PAV measurement is feasible and exhibited excellent reproducibility among all enrolled patients. As a novel fingertip measurement, PAV has promise as a convenient and accurate method for assessing endothelial function in adults.