Impaired Skin Capillary Recruitment in Essential Hypertension Is Caused by Both Functional and Structural Capillary Rarefaction

Capillary rarefaction occurs in many tissues in patients with essential hypertension and may contribute to an increased vascular resistance and impaired muscle metabolism. Rarefaction may be caused by a structural (anatomic) absence of capillaries, functional nonperfusion, or both. The aim of this s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. 1979) Tex. 1979), 2001-08, Vol.38 (2), p.238-242
Main Authors: Serné, Erik H, Gans, Reinold O.B, ter Maaten, Jan C, Tangelder, Geert-Jan, Donker, Ab J.M, Stehouwer, Coen D.A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arterial hypertension. Arterial hypotension
Biological and medical sciences
Blood and lymphatic vessels
Capillaries - abnormalities
Capillaries - physiopathology
Cardiology. Vascular system
Clinical manifestations. Epidemiology. Investigative techniques. Etiology
Female
Humans
Hypertension - pathology
Hypertension - physiopathology
Male
Medical sciences
Microcirculation - pathology
Microcirculation - physiopathology
Microscopic Angioscopy - methods
Microscopy, Video - methods
Middle Aged
Perfusion
Skin - blood supply
Vascular Resistance
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Summary:Capillary rarefaction occurs in many tissues in patients with essential hypertension and may contribute to an increased vascular resistance and impaired muscle metabolism. Rarefaction may be caused by a structural (anatomic) absence of capillaries, functional nonperfusion, or both. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of structural versus functional capillary rarefaction in the skin of subjects with essential hypertension. We examined skin capillary density with video microscopy before and during maximization of the number of perfused capillaries by venous congestion (structural capillary number) and before and during postocclusive reactive hyperemia (capillary recruitment, which may have a structural and/or functional basis). The study group was composed of 26 patients with never-treated essential hypertension and 26 normotensive control subjects. In both groups, intermittently perfused capillaries in the resting state were an important functional reserve for recruitment during postocclusive hyperemia. Recruitment of perfused capillaries during postocclusive reactive hyperemia was decreased in the hypertensive subjects compared with normotensive control subjects (47.9±6.8 versus 55.3±8.2 capillaries/mm, respectively;P
ISSN:0194-911X
1524-4563
DOI:10.1161/01.hyp.38.2.238