Martínez GA, León ÁJL, Marcos GY

Language: Spanish
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ABSTRACT

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases of atherosclerotic origin and arterial hypertension are responsible for high global morbidity and mortality. Its fundamental pathophysiological process is endothelial dysfunction. The effective primary prevention of these entities requires an adequate risk estimation, being attractive a strategy based on the non-invasive detection of subclinical atherosclerosis complementing the traditional risk assessment.
Objective: To evaluate the ultrasonographic marker of endothelial function most used in clinical practice, for which texts available in the databases Cumed, Scielo and PubMed were consulted.
Methods: 101 published articles were consulted, of which 47 were selected for reference. The descriptors used for the bibliographic search were: Vascular Endothelium, Hypertension, Atherosclerosis. It was verified that the most explored and validated endothelial function is flow-mediated vasodilation, although there are technical differences between recognized vascular laboratories.
Conclusions: A reliable marker should be found, but simple to perform for the diagnosis of subclinical atherosclerosis, which may be considered as such, the basal diameter of the brachial artery.