TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Clinical Assessment of Endothelial Function A1 - Halcox, Julian P. J. A1 - Donald, Ann E. A1 - Deanfield, John E. A2 - Dieter, Robert S. A2 - Dieter, Raymond A. A2 - Dieter, Raymond A. PY - 2009 T2 - Peripheral Arterial Disease AB - It has become increasingly apparent that the atherosclerotic disease process begins early in life. Dynamic changes in vascular biology are involved in the initiation and progression of disease as well as in the destabilization of established plaques that gives rise to acute clinical events.1 The vascular endothelium has been shown to be the central regulator of vascular health, accomplished through the production of a wide range of factors that affect vascular tone, cellular adhesion, thrombosis, smooth muscle cell proliferation, and vessel wall inflammation as described in Chapter 5. Because of its intimate interface between the circulating blood and the vessel wall, it is ideally placed to function as an active signal transducer for circulating modulators of vessel wall biology.2 Alterations in endothelial function are the earliest pathological vascular changes that can be detected clinically. These typically precede the evolution of structural atherosclerotic disease, contributing mechanistically to lesion development and to later clinical complications.1 SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - accesscardiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1127164625 ER -