Echo-tracking technology for evaluating femoral artery endothelial function in patients with Grave's disease / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of echo-tracking technology in evaluating endothelial function of the femoral artery in patients with Grave's disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-four patients with Grave's disease patients and 30 normal adults as controls were recruited in this study. The intima-media thickness (IMT), arterial stiffness (β), pressure strain elastic modulus (Ep), arterial compliance (AC), pulse wave conducting velocity (PWVβ) and augmentation index (AI) parameters were examined using echo-tracking technology for evaluating the right femoral arterial elasticity.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control subjects, the patients with Grave's disease showed significantly increased β, Ep, and PWVβ and significantly decreased AC (P<0.05), but the argumentation index were similar between the two groups (P>0.05). In patients with Grave's disease, β and Ep were positively correlated with FT3, FT4, TT3, TT4, and PWVβ was positively correlated with FT3 and FT4.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Echo-tracking technology can provide more accurate quantitative evidences for early diagnosis of femoral artery endothelial dysfunction in patients with Grave's disease, but the influence of procedural factors on the measurement accuracy should be considered in the evaluation.</p>