Noninvasive echo-Doppler duplex measurements of common femoral artery blood flow variables during supine exercise and post-occlusive reactive hyperemia.

Noninvasive dynamic measurements of common femoral artery blood flow (CFBF) and stroke volume (CFSV) during supine exercise (SE) and staged post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (PORH) in normal subjects using an echo-Doppler duplex scanner (DS) would provide baseline hemodynamic data in the study of the peripheral circulation in resting, stressed, and diseased conditions. Heart rate (HR), CFBF, and CFSV were determined at rest (R), after 5 minutes of SE on an ergometer (30 rpm) at 30, 60, 90-watt loads and after a 3-minute recovery. The same variables were also calculated after periods of 2-, 5-, and 10-minute thigh occlusions (greater than 240 mm Hg cuff pressure). Measurements of spatial average blood velocities and lumen diameters were used to calculate CFBF. Ankle pressure (AP) and brachial pressure (BP) were determined, and the ratio of systolic AP to systolic BP, the ankle index (AI), was calculated. As in vitro validation of the DS method was accomplished using a hydraulic model of CFBF (r = 0.98). Mean values for maximal CFBF following SE and PORH were 0.81 and 1.53 l/min, respectively. With SE, increases in CFBF and CFSV and decreases in AI were significantly (p less than .05) only at 60- and 90-watt loads. Increases in CFBF and CFSV and decreases in AP and AI were significantly different (p less than .05) from rest for the three occlusion durations and show a linear trend. This study suggests that the DS method can noninvasively and quantitatively measure CFBF and CFSV at rest following SE and during PORH.