The term "microcirculation" refers to the terminal vascular network of the body, which includes arterioles, capillaries, venules as well as initial lymphatic vessels. Additionally, it insinuates to their unique function in thermoregulation, fluid balance, maintenance of cellular exchange, and metabolism. Disturbances of microvascular function were identified to precede macrovascular involvement in the presence of cardiovascular risk factors and is the hallmark of terminal disease stages like critical limb or acral ischemia. Nevertheless, despite its obvious significance in vascular medicine assessment of microvascular function became increasingly neglected in the clinical institutions during the last decades and seems to play a subordinary role in medical education. We therefore provide an overview over relevant and clinically practicable methods to assess microcirculation in vascular medicine with critical estimations of their pros and cons and their perspectives in the future.

Department of Internal Medicine School for Cardiovascular Diseases CARIM; Maastricht University Medical Center Maastricht The Netherlands

Gefäßchirurgische Abteilung Universitätsklinikum Erlangen Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg Erlangen Germany

Klinik für Angiologie Zentrum für Innere Medizin 2 Ernst von Bergmann Klinikum Potsdam Germany

MATMED s r o Private Angiology Facility Hodonin Czech Republic

Medizinische Universtiät Wien Universitätsklinik für Innere Medizin 2 Klinische Abteilung für Angiologie Vienna Austria

Service de Pathologie Vasculaire Hôpital ERASME Université Libre de Bruxelle Brussels Belgium

Unità di Medicina Vascolare e Autoimmunità CRIIS Centro di riferimento interdisciplinare per la Sclerosi Sistemica Rome Italy

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