Methodological Approaches to Optimize Reproducibility and Power in Clinical Studies of Flow-Mediated Dilation

Methodological Approaches to Optimize Reproducibility and Power in Clinical Studies of Flow-Mediated Dilation Ann E. Donald, Julian P. Halcox, Marietta Charakida, Clare Storry, Sharon M. L. Wallace, Tim J. Cole, Peter Friberg, John E. Deanfield We assessed the reproducibility of components of the flow-mediated dilation (FMD) response and their ability to discriminate between health and disease. The peak FMD was the most reproducible. All components except the time to peak were significantly lower in subjects with risk factors. Power curves generated from these results can be used to inform on the appropriate number of subjects for clinical trials.