Reliability of the hyperaemic response to passive leg movement in young, healthy women.

Abstract

What is the central question of this study? This is the first study to assess the day-to-day reliability of passive leg movement-induced hyperaemia (PLM-H), an index of lower-limb microvascular function, in young, healthy women. What is the main finding and its importance? Passive leg movement-induced hyperaemia demonstrated good day-to-day reliability, comparable to other common indices of endothelial function, supporting the use of PLM-H to assess lower-limb microvascular function in women. Passive leg movement-elicited hyperaemia (PLM-H) provides an index of lower-limb microvascular function. However, there is currently limited information regarding the reliability of PLM-H and no reliability information specific to women. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of PLM-H in women on two separate days. Seventeen young, healthy women [22±3 years old (mean±SD)] participated in two identical visits including three trials of PLM. Using duplex ultrasound, PLM-H was characterized by six indices: peak leg blood flow (LBF) and vascular conductance (LVC), peak change above baseline (Δpeak) for LBF and LVC, and area under the curve above baseline (AUC) during the first 60s of PLM for LBF and LVC. The results demonstrated good day-to-day reliability of PLM-H characterized as peak LBF [r=0.84, P<0.001; intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.84; coefficient of variation (CV)=13.2%], peak LVC (r=0.82, P<0.001; ICC=0.79; CV=14.4%), Δpeak LBF (r=0.83, P<0.001; ICC=0.82; CV=17.8%) and Δpeak LVC (r=0.83, P<0.001; ICC=0.80; CV=16.5%). Characterization of PLM as AUC demonstrated moderate day-to-day reliability: AUC LBF (r=0.71, P<0.05; ICC=0.70; CV=31.2%) and AUC LVC (r=0.78, P<0.001; ICC=0.74; CV=27.1%). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that PLM-H has good reliability as an index of microvascular function; however, characterization of PLM-H as peak, Δpeak LBF and LVC is more reliable than AUC.