• Erislandis López-Galán, Adrián Alejandro Vitón-Castillo, Ramón Carrazana-Escalona, Maylet Planas-Rodriguez, Adolfo Arsenio Fernández-García, Ileana Cutiño-Clavel, Alexander Pascau-Simon, Philippe Connes, Miguel Enrique Sánchez-Hechavarría, and Gustavo Alejandro Muñoz-Bustos.
• Departamento de Ciencias Básicas Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Santiago de Cuba, Santiago de Cuba 90100, Cuba.
• Medicina (Kaunas). 2023 Jun 13; 59 (6).

AbstractBackground and Objectives: To compare autonomic and vascular responses during reactive hyperemia (RH) between healthy individuals and patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA). Materials and Methods: Eighteen healthy subjects and 24 SCA patients were subjected to arterial occlusion for 3 min at the lower right limb level. The pulse rate variability (PRV) and pulse wave amplitude were measured through photoplethysmography using the Angiodin® PD 3000 device, which was placed on the first finger of the lower right limb 2 min before (Basal) and 2 min after the occlusion. Pulse peak intervals were analyzed using time-frequency (wavelet transform) methods for high-frequency (HF: 0.15-0.4) and low-frequency (LF: 0.04-0.15) bands, and the LF/HF ratio was calculated. Results: The pulse wave amplitude was higher in healthy subjects compared to SCA patients, at both baseline and post-occlusion (p < 0.05). Time-frequency analysis showed that the LF/HF peak in response to the post-occlusion RH test was reached earlier in healthy subjects compared to SCA patients. Conclusions: Vasodilatory function, as measured by PPG, was lower in SCA patients compared to healthy subjects. Moreover, a cardiovascular autonomic imbalance was present in SCA patients with high sympathetic and low parasympathetic activity in the basal state and a poor response of the sympathetic nervous system to RH. Early cardiovascular sympathetic activation (10 s) and vasodilatory function in response to RH were impaired in SCA patients.

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