Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1995 Jul;26(1):41-9.
doi: 10.1016/0735-1097(95)00142-m.

Epicardial vasomotor responses to acetylcholine are not predicted by coronary atherosclerosis as assessed by intracoronary ultrasound

R A Nishimura  1 , A Lerman, J H Chesebro, D M Ilstrup, D O Hodge, S T Higano, D R Holmes Jr, A J Tajik
Affiliations
Free article

Epicardial vasomotor responses to acetylcholine are not predicted by coronary atherosclerosis as assessed by intracoronary ultrasound

R A Nishimura et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1995 Jul.
Free article

Erratum in

  • J Am Coll Cardiol 1995 Nov 15;26(6):1564

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to use intravascular ultrasound to determine the morphologic appearance of the coronary arteries, relating the absence, presence and extent of atherosclerosis to the response of the coronary arteries to acetylcholine infusion.

Background: Endothelial function plays a major role in the pathophysiology of myocardial ischemia and angina pectoris. The response of the coronary arteries to selective infusion of acetylcholine has been used to examine endothelial function, with vasoconstriction occurring in the absence of intact endothelial function. Vasoconstriction to acetylcholine infusion in humans without overt coronary artery disease has been attributed to early atherosclerosis not detected by coronary angiography.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients without overt coronary artery disease underwent selective coronary angiography and selective intracoronary infusion of increasing concentrations of acetylcholine (10(-6), 10(-5) and 10(-4) mol/liter), followed by intravascular ultrasound imaging.

Results: The response of the coronary arteries to acetylcholine infusion was not dependent on the absence or presence of atherosclerotic plaque, as detected by intravascular ultrasound. The percent change in epicardial coronary artery diameter during acetylcholine infusion versus baseline was -14 +/- 28% (mean +/- SD) in the seven patients with no visible atherosclerosis on intravascular ultrasound versus -9 +/- 20% in the 22 patients with visible atherosclerosis on intravascular ultrasound (p = NS, confidence interval -14% to 25%). There was a greater vasoconstrictive response to acetylcholine infusion in patients with risk factors for coronary artery disease than in those without risk factors (p = 0.003).

Conclusions: The vasoreactive response to acetylcholine is not necessarily dependent on ultrasound detection of the presence or absence of atherosclerosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources