ИСТИНА

The objective of this work was to examine and compare the microcirculation in healthy volunteers and two groups of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases, specifically coronary heart disease (CHD) and atrial fibrillation (AF). These diseases pose significant health risks and require accurate diagnostic tools to assess the severity and progression of the diseases. Traditional diagnostic methods have limitations in providing detailed information about blood flow characteristics, particularly in the microcirculation. Furthermore, this study aimed to identify a relationship between blood microcirculation parameters (MP) and endothelial function (EF). Digital optical capillaroscopy was employed to assess such MP as capillary blood flow velocity, the size of red blood cell aggregates, and the number of aggregates per min and per running mm. The results indicate significant alterations in blood flow characteristics among patients with CHD and AF compared to healthy volunteers. For example, capillary blood flow velocity is statistically significantly decreased in the case of CHD and AF compared to the healthy volunteers. Additionally, the correlation between the measured parameters is different for the studied groups of patients and healthy volunteers. The correlation between the MP and the EF is higher for the patients with CHD. Specifically, an increase in EF measured on the wrist corresponds to a significant decrease in the blood aggregate size. These findings highlight the potential of digital optical capillaroscopy as a non-invasive tool for evaluating blood flow abnormalities (red blood cell aggregates and decreased capillary blood flow velocity) in cardiovascular diseases, aiding in early diagnosis and disease management.