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Updated: Jun 21, 2025
Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease
Published on: June 16, 2014
Impaired Microvascular Reactivity in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease Submitted to Kidney Transplantation: A
Paulo Sergio Borges1, Flavia Augusta Orange2, Isabelle Albuquerque Pontes3
1Departments of Pediatric Surgery and Transplant Surgery, Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira (IMIP), Recife, Brazil.
Introduction:
The effect of kidney transplantation on endothelial dysfunction and autonomic dysfunction in uremia remains controversial, and few studies have evaluated this question. Endothelial dysfunction and autonomic dysfunction, both, be assessed noninvasively using laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). This study evaluated cutaneous microvascular blood flow and reactivity using LDF in patients undergoing kidney transplantation.
Methods:
This prospective longitudinal cohort study involved 40 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) undergoing kidney transplantation, compared with 40 patients without kidney disease. Using LDF, post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (PORH) (resting flow [RF], peak flow, ratio between peak, and RF, hyperemic area, PORH index), and sympathetic constrictor response to inspiratory breath-hold (mean minimum inspiratory values) were evaluated.
Results:
RF and sympathetic constrictor response to inspiratory breath-hold (mean minimum inspiratory values), were lower in the CKD group at 1 week and at 3 months after transplantation (p < 0.005). Mean minimum inspiratory values increase in the CKD group, 3 months after transplantation.
Conclusion:
Compared with controls with no CKD, in CKD patients undergoing kidney transplantation, microcirculation by LDF shows improvement after 3 months.
