Background:

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) suspicion will allow to prevent accelerated atherosclerosis and premature death.

Objective:

To establish the usefulness of thermography for endothelial function screening in adults with cardiovascular risk factors.

Material and methods:

Cross-sectional, analytical diagnostic test. A brachial arterial diameter (BAD) increase <11 % at one-minute post-ischemia meant probable ED and was confirmed if BAD was ≥ 11 % post-sublingual nitroglycerin. Thermographic photographs of the palmar region were obtained at one minute. Descriptive statistics, ROC curve, Mann-Whitney’s U-test, chi-square test, or Fisher’s exact test were used.

Results:

Thirty-eight subjects with a median age of 50 years, and with 624 thermographic measurements were included. Nine had ED (flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV): 2.5 %. The best cutoff point for normal endothelial function in subjects with cardiovascular risk factors was ≥ 36 °C at one minute of ischemia, with 85 % sensitivity, 70 % specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 78 and 77 %, area under the curve of 0.796, LR+ 2.82, LR- 0.22.

Conclusions:

An infrared thermography-measured temperature in the palmar region greater than or equal to 36 °C after one minute of ischemia is practical, non-invasive, and inexpensive for normal endothelial function screening in adults with cardiovascular risk factors.