Relationship Between Endothelial Function With Coronary Collateral Development

Flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the brachial artery, which is indicative of endothelial function is correlated with cardiovascular risk factors. The relationship between FMD and collateral formation in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been investigated up to date. In our study, we investigated this relationship. The study enrolled 91 (12 female, 79 male) patients with a mean age of 59±11. In patients with at least one coronary artery stenosis of %90 or greater were included in the study In the presence of angiographic coronary collateral classification was made according to Rentrop. Patients were divided into 2 groups as patients with poor collaterals vessels (Rentrop grade 0 or l; 42 patients) and good collaterals vessels (Rentrop grade 2 or 3; 49 patients). Using highresolution ultrasound, both the FMD and sublingual nitroglycerininduced vasodilation in the brachial artery were measured in all patients. FMD was not significantly different between the two groups (4.55±0.69 vs 4.52±0.64, p= 0.83). In conclusion, in this study, lack of association between an impairment of FMD in the brachial artery and the presence of poor collaterals was observed. The reason for this, collateral formation is a complex phenomenon consisting of several distinct processes.