Reactive hyperemia correlates with the presence of sepsis and glycocalyx degradation in the intensive care unit: a prospective cohort study

Abstract Objective: To investigate whether reactive hyperemia measured by peripheral arterial tonometry correlates with markers of endothelial dysfunction and may be used to identify sepsis in critical illness. Methods: A prospective study was performed using a cohort of critically ill patients. Endothelial dysfunction was assessed on admission by quantifying reactive hyperemia-peripheral arterial tonometry and plasma levels of endothelin-1, soluble E-selectin, endocan and syndecan-1. Septic patients were compared to patients without evidence of infection. Results: Fifty-eight septic patients were compared to 28 controls. The natural logarithm of reactive hyperemia-peripheral arterial tonometry was negatively correlated with cardiovascular comorbidities, disease severity and plasma levels of soluble E-selectin (p = 0.024) and syndecan-1 (p