OBJECTIVE: Literature review on the use of the variation measure of the brachial artery diameter by high-resolution ultrasound (flow-mediated dilation) as a predictor of cardiovascular disease risk in children and adolescents. DATA SOURCE: Survey of studies indexed in Medline/Pubmed, which were published between 2002 and 2011 using the following keywords in various combinations:"endothelium," "child", "ultrasonography" and "obesity", as well as classic texts on the subject. We found 54 publications and 32 were included in this review. SYNTHESIS OF DATA: The study of endothelial dysfunction has been used as a predictor of risk for cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease, since endothelial injury is an important event in the physiopathology of these diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery seems to be important as a diagnostic and prognostic tool to assess endothelial function in children and adolescents who are overweight, because it is a noninvasive method with good profile regarding cost, safety, and benefits.
endothelium; child; ultrasonography; obesity
