Femoral and axillary ultrasound blood flow during exercise : A methodological study

To use Doppler ultrasound 1) to assess the relationship between exercise intensity and changes in femoral and axillary artery diameter, 2) to determine whether volume blood flow (BF) measured during early recovery accurately reflects exercise BF, and 3) to assess the influence of artery caliber and/or site as well as exercise intensity on BF measurement reproducibility. Thirteen healthy subjects (mean age 25.9+/-7.7 yr) performed progressive and maximal leg-extension (LE) and elbow-flexion (EF) exercises in the supine position. The duration of each stage was 150 s, followed by a 30-s recovery period. Arterial diameter and blood flow velocity were recorded simultaneously and continuously during the last 30 s of exercise as well as 30 s into recovery. Arterial dilation was 3.5 and 6.5% at maximal effort in femoral and axillary arteries, respectively. A significant increase was observed for both arteries from workload 2 to peak exercise when arterial cross-sectional area was calculated. Blood flow velocity during the recovery period was significantly different from end-exercise values, depending on time and workload. The coefficients of variation of BF measurement during exercise were 7.1-12.1% and 6.4-9.5% in LE and EF, respectively. This study showed that BF measurement with Doppler ultrasound during exercise is reproducible but requires measurement of arterial diameter at each workload. Measurements performed immediately after exercise cannot be used as a surrogate for blood flow velocity during exercise.