Conclusions from an Observational Study of Patients with Vascular Diseases Using the FMSF Technique

Abstract

Purpose

There is great demand for a diagnostic tool for non-invasive assessment of vascular circulation and metabolic regulation. Assessing both these functions is crucial, as each can have a distinct response to hypoxia.

Patients and Methods

The Flow Mediated Skin Fluorescence (FMSF) technique appears uniquely suitable for analysis of vascular circulation and metabolic regulation. In this observational study, the FMSF technique was used to diagnose patients with various vascular diseases. The study group consisted of 482 patients (264 females and 218 males) between the ages of 40–94 years with various vascular problems (arterial hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and chronic venous disease).

Results

Three major FMSF parameters were used: Ischemic Response (IR_max), Hyperemic Response (HR_max), and Reactive Hyperemia Response (RHR). All three parameters were found to decrease with age with a distinguishable kinetics. The IR_max parameter was used for characterization of metabolic reaction to transient hypoxia and HR_max was used for characterization of macrocirculatory function. Both were sex-dependent.

Conclusion

Females were metabolically less adaptive to transient hypoxia than males. However, macrocirculatory function was better in females than among males. Microcirculatory function decreases gradually with age, while macrocirculatory function decreases much more slowly with age, with a tendency to stabilize after 70 years of age.

Keywords:

• vascular circulation
• metabolic regulation
• NADH fluorescence
• FMSF technique

Disclosure

JK is employed by Angionica Ltd. JG is inventor of patents protecting the use of FMSF technology. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.