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Forearm vascular resistance responses to the Valsalva maneuver in healthy young and older adults

Clinical Autonomic Research volume 31, pages 737–753 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Effective end-organ peripheral vascular resistance responses are critical to blood pressure control while upright, and prevention of syncope (fainting). The Valsalva maneuver (VM) induces blood pressure decreases that evoke baroreflex-mediated vasoconstriction. We characterized beat-to-beat forearm vascular resistance (FVR) responses to the VM in healthy adults, evaluated the impact of age and sex on these responses, and investigated their association with orthostatic tolerance (OT; susceptibility to syncope). We hypothesized that individuals with smaller FVR responses would be more susceptible to syncope.

Methods

Healthy young (N = 36; 19 women; age 25.4 ± 4.6 years) and older (N = 21; 12 women; age 62.4 ± 9.6 years) adults performed a supine 40 mmHg, 20 s VM. Graded 60° head-up-tilt with combined lower body negative pressure continued to presyncope was used to determine OT. Non-invasive beat-to-beat blood pressure and heart rate (finger plethysmography) were recorded continuously. FVR was calculated as mean arterial pressure (MAP) divided by brachial blood flow velocity (Doppler ultrasound) relative to baseline.

Results

The VM produces a distinctive FVR pattern that peaks (+137.1 ± 11.6%) in phase 2B (17.5 ± 0.3 s) as the baroreflex responds to low-pressure perturbations. This response increased with age overall (p < 0.001) and within male (p = 0.030) and female subgroups (p < 0.001). Maximum FVR during the VM was significantly correlated with maximal tilt FVR (r = 0.364; p = 0.0153) and with OT when expressed relative to the MAP decrease in phase 2A (Max FVR (%)/MAP2A-1; r = 0.337; p = 0.0206).

Conclusion

This is the first characterization of FVR responses to the VM. The VM elicits large baroreflex-mediated increases in FVR; small FVR responses to the VM may indicate susceptibility to syncope.

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Data availability

Due to legal and ethical restriction, data cannot be made publicly available. Data will be made available upon request. Additional published or public analyses would only be permitted with ethics approval for secondary data access. Requests for access to datasets should be made to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Farhaan M Khan for his assistance with data processing.

Funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Brooke C. D. Hockin, Eileen Z. Tang, Matthew G. Lloyd & Victoria E. Claydon

  2. International Collaboration On Repair and Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Brooke C. D. Hockin, Eileen Z. Tang, Matthew G. Lloyd & Victoria E. Claydon

Authors
  1. Brooke C. D. Hockin
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  2. Eileen Z. Tang
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  3. Matthew G. Lloyd
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  4. Victoria E. Claydon
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Contributions

BH and VC conceived and designed the study. BH and ML collected the data. BH, ET and ML contributed to the data analysis. BH was responsible for data visualization. BH and VC interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version for submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victoria E. Claydon.

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Hockin, B.C.D., Tang, E.Z., Lloyd, M.G. et al. Forearm vascular resistance responses to the Valsalva maneuver in healthy young and older adults. Clin Auton Res 31, 737–753 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-021-00810-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-021-00810-9

Keywords

  • Forearm vascular resistance
  • Valsalva maneuver
  • Syncope
  • Age and sex
  • Orthostatic tolerance