Comparative study of microvascular function: Forearm blood flow versus dynamic retinal vessel analysis

Objective Recently, dynamic retinal vessel analysis (DVA) has gained interest for investigation of microvascular function but comparative measurements with standard methods like the forearm blood flow technique (FBF) are uncommon till now. Methods We recruited 23 high‐risk cardiovascular patients (Risk) and 17 healthy persons (Ctrl). During the FBF experiment, postocclusive reactive hyperaemia (RH) as well as endothelium‐dependent and independent vasodilation was measured by infusion of acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) into the brachial artery. The dynamic vessel analyzer was applied for measurement of the retinal arterial and venous response to flickering light during DVA and for determination of the central retinal arterial (CRAE) and venous equivalent (CRVE). Results Forearm blood flow technique was significantly attenuated in the patient group during postocclusive RH (p