Clinical Evaluation Tool for Vascular Health–Endothelial Function and Cardiovascular Disease Management

Abstract

There are 330 million people suffering from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in China, and two out of every five deaths were due to CVD. CVD has become the main disease burden in China. Vascular health management can detect subclinical vascular diseases such as endothelial dysfunction. Through controlling risk factors, vascular function, such as endothelial function, can be improved and cardiovascular events can be prevented from the upstream. Peking University Shougang hospital is the first practitioner of life-long vascular health management since 2010 in China. The established Beijing Vascular Health Stratification (BVHS) focuses on the comprehensive evaluation of vascular health function and structure and explores the application of information technology and artificial intelligence in vascular health management. The life-long vascular health management and tertiary hospital–primary hospital–family service model guided by BVHS can better realize the prophylaxis of CVD. The prevention and control strategy of CVD based on information technology and vascular health, especially endothelial function management, can help to implement the “healthy China 2030” plan. In this review, we focus on advances in the clinical assessment of vascular endothelial function, including the evaluation of endothelial function, the evaluation of arteriosclerosis, new potential biological markers to provide new possible therapeutic targets, and BVHS, a comprehensive vascular aging assessment system. Strengthening the assessment of cardiovascular health and endothelial function is of great significance for the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in risk groups and the occurrence of adverse events in patients with cardiovascular diseases.