Jl. Houghton et al., CORONARY VASOMOTOR FUNCTION IN A NORMOTENSIVE, NONDIABETIC REFERRAL POPULATION WITH NORMAL CORONARY ARTERIOGRAMS, The American journal of cardiology, 77(14), 1996, pp. 1241
Coronary vasomotor function, defined as potential for vasorelaxation a
nd augmentation of coronary blood flow, is adversely affected by multi
ple factors, including increased age, systemic hypertension, left vent
ricular hypertrophy, hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, estrogen deficie
ncy, diabetes mellitus, and longterm use of tobacco.(1-7) Pathophysiol
ogy of acute coronary syndromes, vasospastic angina, and progression o
f atherosclerosis all appear to be linked to coronary endothelial dysf
unction and depressed capacity for coronary relaxation.(8-10) The purp
ose of this study was to define the reference range for pharmacologica
lly induced coronary vasodilation in a healthy referral cardiac popula
tion composed of normotensive, nondiabetic subjects with normal corona
ry arteriograms that showed no angiographic evidence of atherosclerosi
s. This population is hereafter referred to as referral normal. Intrac
oronary Doppler measurements of coronary blood flow velocity and quant
itative coronary angiography were used to study 3 indicators of corona
ry vasomotor function: endothelium-dependent vasodilator response to i
ntracoronary acetylcholine, endothelium-independent vasodilator respon
se to intracoronary adenosine, and endothelium-independent vasodilator
response to intracoronary nitroglycerin.