A spinal cord injury (SCI) clearly results in greater cardiovascular risk; however, accompanying changes in peripheral vascular structure below the lesion mean that the real impact of a SCI on vascular function is unclear. AIM: Therefore, utilizing passive leg movement-induced (PLM) hyperaemia, an index of nitric oxide (NO)-dependent vascular function and the central hemodynamic response to this intervention, we studied eight individuals with a SCI and eight age-matched controls (CTRL). METHODS: Specifically, we assessed heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), mean arterial pressure (MAP), leg blood flow (LBF) and thigh composition. RESULTS: In CTRL, passive movement transiently decreased MAP and increased HR and CO from baseline by 2.5 ± 1 mmHg, 7 ± 2 bpm and 0.5 ± 0.1 L min(-1) respectively. In SCI, HR and CO responses were unidentifiable. LBF increased to a greater extent in CTRL (515 ± 41 ∆mL min(-1)) compared with SCI, (126 ± 25 ∆mL min(-1)) (P