Determination of femoral artery endothelial function by phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging

To determine the utility of phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) measurements of flow-mediated arterial dilation for characterizing peripheral arterial endothelial function, 10 young healthy subjects and 10 older patients with NYHA class II heart failure (HF), associated with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, underwent femoral artery PC-MRI at rest, during 5 minutes of thigh cuff inflation, and every 30 seconds for 3 minutes after cuff deflation. There was a significant (p <0.05) difference in the increase in the absolute and percent changes in arterial area, 3.5 +/- 3.0 mm(2) (13 +/- 12%) for younger patients versus 1.0 +/- 2.5 mm(2) (2 +/- 7%) for older patients with HF; thus, PC-MRI can be used to identify differences in flow-mediated arterial dilation that are consistent with differences in peripheral arterial endothelial function previously observed in healthy subjects and patients with HF.