Title
Passive Leg Movement-Induced Hyperaemia with a Spinal Cord Lesion: Evidence of Preserved Vascular Function
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Embargo Period
5-18-2017
Keywords
Blood flow, spinal cord injury, vascular dysfunction
Abstract
A spinal cord injury (SCI) clearly results in greater cardiovascular risk; however, accompanying changes in peripheral vascular structure below the lesion mean that the real impact of a SCI on vascular function is unclear.
AIM: Therefore, utilizing passive leg movement-induced (PLM) hyperaemia, an index of nitric oxide (NO)-dependent vascular function and the central hemodynamic response to this intervention, we studied eight individuals with a SCI and eight age-matched controls (CTRL).
METHODS: Specifically, we assessed heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), mean arterial pressure (MAP), leg blood flow (LBF) and thigh composition.
RESULTS: In CTRL, passive movement transiently decreased MAP and increased HR and CO from baseline by 2.5 ± 1 mmHg, 7 ± 2 bpm and 0.5 ± 0.1 L min(-1) respectively. In SCI, HR and CO responses were unidentifiable. LBF increased to a greater extent in CTRL (515 ± 41 ∆mL min(-1)) compared with SCI, (126 ± 25 ∆mL min(-1)) (P < 0.05). There was a strong relationship between ∆LBF and thigh muscle volume (r = 0.95). After normalizing ∆LBF for this strong relationship (∆LBF/muscle volume), there was evidence of preserved vascular function in SCI (CTRL: 120 ± 9; SCI 104 ± 11 mL min(-1) L(-1)). A comparison of ∆LBF in the passively moved and stationary leg, to partition the contribution of the blood flow response, implied that 35% of the hyperaemia resulted from cardioacceleration in the CTRL, whereas all the hyperaemia appeared peripheral in origin in the SCI.
CONCLUSION: Thus, utilizing PLM-induced hyperaemia as marker of vascular function, it is evident that peripheral vascular impairment is not an obligatory accompaniment to a SCI.
Published In
Acta Physiologica (Oxford, England)
Volume
210
Issue
2
Pages
429-439
Recommended Citation
Venturelli M, Amann M, Layec G, McDaniel J, Trinity JD, Fjeldstad AS, Ives SJ, Yonnet G, Richardson RS. Passive leg movement-induced hyperaemia with a spinal cord lesion: evidence of preserved vascular function. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2014 Feb;210(2):429-39. doi: 10.1111/apha.12173. Epub 2013 Nov 5. PubMed PMID: 24119139; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3972380.
DOI
10.1111/apha.12173