Endothelial function under pressure.

In the study entitled “Men Born in 1914,” a reduction of pulse-wave amplitude during reactive hyperemia was found to be predictive of long-term cardiovascular events (1). Of particular note is the fact that these observations were made many years before the whole concept of endotheliumdependent vasoreactivity and its mediators was elaborated (2). Therefore, this study was the first to subsequently demonstrate the association between vascular function and long-term clinical outcome. With a better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms and different techniques to examine endothelium-mediated vasoreactivity, subsequent studies confirmed the prognostic significance of endothelial dysfunction in both the coronary and the peripheral circulation (3–6).