METHODS: A 12-week randomized controlled trial in men and women aged 40-70 years was used to test whether skin microcirculation, measured by skin video-capillaroscopy on the dorsum of the finger, influenced functional capillary density (number of capillaries perfused under basal conditions), structural capillary density (number of anatomical capillaries perfused during finger cuff inflation) and capillary recruitment (percentage difference between structural and functional capillary density).
RESULTS: Microvascular measures were available for 137 subjects out of the 165 participants randomized to treatment. There was evidence of compliance to the dietary intervention, and participants randomized to follow dietary guidelines showed significant falls in resting supine systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure of 3.5, 2.6 and 2.9 mmHg compared to the control diet. There was no evidence of differences in capillary density, but capillary recruitment was 3.5 % (95 % CI 0.2, 6.9) greater (P = 0.04) on dietary guidelines compared with control.
CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to dietary guidelines may help maintain a healthy microcirculation in middle-aged men and women. This study is registered at www.isrctn.com as ISRCTN92382106.
METHODOLOGY: We performed a cross-sectional cohort study on healthy subjects and patients with glaucoma. The AngioVue Enhanced Microvascular Imaging System was used to capture the optic nerve head and macula images during one visit. En face segment images of the macular and optic disc were studied in layers. Microvascular density of the optic nerve head and macula were quantified by the number of pixels measured by a novel in-house developed software. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) were used to determine the accuracy of differentiating between glaucoma and healthy subjects.
RESULTS: A total of 24 (32 eyes) glaucoma subjects (57.5±9.5-y old) and 29 (58 eyes) age-matched controls (51.17±13.5-y old) were recruited. Optic disc and macula scans were performed showing a greater mean vessel density (VD) in healthy compared with glaucoma subjects. The control group had higher VD than the glaucoma group at the en face segmented layers of the optic disc (optic nerve head: 0.209±0.05 vs. 0.110±0.048, P<0.001; vitreoretinal interface: 0.086±0.045 vs. 0.052±0.034, P=0.001; radial peripapillary capillary: 0.146±0.040 vs. 0.053±0.036, P<0.001; and choroid: 0.228±0.074 vs. 0.165±0.062, P<0.001). Similarly, the VD at the macula was also greater in controls than glaucoma patients (superficial retina capillary plexus: 0.115±0.016 vs. 0.088±0.027, P<0.001; deep retina capillary plexus: 0.233±0.027 vs. 0.136±0.073, P<0.001; outer retinal capillary plexus: 0.190±0.057 vs. 0.136±0.105, P=0.036; and choriocapillaris: 0.225±0.053 vs. 0.153±0.068, P<0.001. The AUROC was highest for optic disc radial peripapillary capillary (0.96), followed by nerve head (0.92) and optic disc choroid (0.76). At the macula, the AUROC was highest for deep retina (0.86), followed by choroid (0.84), superficial retina (0.81), and outer retina (0.72).
CONCLUSIONS: Microvascular density of the optic disc and macula in glaucoma patients was reduced compared with healthy controls. VD of both optic disc and macula had a high diagnostic ability in differentiating healthy and glaucoma eyes.
METHOD: 297 healthy and non-smoking subjects (159 females, mean age (±SD) 23.56 ± 4.54 years) underwent microvascular reactivity assessment using LDF followed by macrovascular endothelial function assessments using PWA.
RESULTS: Pearson's correlation showed no correlation between macrovascular endothelial function and microvascular reactivity (r = -0.10, P = 0.12).
CONCLUSION: There was no significant correlation between macrovascular endothelial function assessed by PWA and microvascular reactivity assessed by LDF in healthy subjects.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of scalp cooling among breast cancer patients in our study population.
METHODS: Consecutive breast cancer patients receiving FE75C, FE100C, FE100C-D, docetaxel75 or docetaxel, and cyclophosphamide (TC) at our treatment center were recruited and allocated to the treatment (scalp cooling, DigniCapTM system) or control group in this prospective nonrandomized controlled study. The assessment of alopecia was carried out using the World Health Organization grading system and clinical photographs.
RESULTS: Seventy patients were recruited, but only 25 completed the study and were evaluable for analysis. Five of 12 patients (42%) in the scalp cooling group managed to preserve hair. Two of three patients who received FE75C and TC regimens had minimal hair loss. All patients treated with FE100C had severe hair loss. Half of all patients who received scalp cooling throughout chemotherapy rated the treatment as reasonably well tolerated. The most common reason for discontinuing scalp cooling was intolerance to its side effects.
CONCLUSION: Scalp cooling is potentially effective in reducing CIA caused by docetaxel, TC, and FE75C chemotherapy regimen. However, it was not well tolerated by our study population. The dropout rate was high, and this needs to be taken into consideration when pursuing further trials in a similar setting.