Importance of arterial stiffness in predicting cardiovascular events

Abstract

Introduction. Cardiovascular events represent an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the entire population. Arterial stiffness is currently considered one of the most important risk factors for the development of cardiovascular events. The gold-standard for evaluating arterial stiffness is pulse wave velocity (PWV). Recent studies have demonstrated that PWV is an independent risk factor regarding the development of cardiovascular events, especially in certain categories of patients.Material and Methods. The development of cardiovascular events was assessed in 174 patients admitted in the Center of Internal Medicine, Fundeni Clinical Institute, between January 2011 -May 2012. Arterial stiffness was evaluated by measuring PWV using the Sphygmocor system (AtCor, Australia), which is based on the principle of applanation tonometry. The patients were monitored for the development of cardiovascular events (ischemic heart disease, heart failure, stroke, acute myocardial infarction) and for death of cardiovascular cause, over a median period of 51.5 months (43-60 months).Results. Of the 174 patients, 81 (46.6%) were women and 93 (53.4%) were men. Mean age was 55.96 years. 93 of the 174 patients had chronic kidney failure in different stages (47.3% in stage V). Regarding PWV in the patient group, we obtained a mean score of 9.382. We observed a significant difference regarding the PWV level only for acute myocardial infarction and death between patients who developed these events and those who did not.Conclusions. Our study demonstrates that PWV increase can be positively associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events, particularly in certain groups of patients

Vasculoprotective Effects of Vildagliptin. Focus on Atherogenesis

“…Arterial stiffness impairs relaxation of blood vessels and contributes to an augmentation of the blood pressure. Increased AS has been shown to correlate with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality [116,117]. Decreased vasodilatation in coronary arteries with established atherosclerosis induced vasoconstriction may result in reduced myocardial perfusion and myocardial ischemia [118].…”

Sex and body mass index dependent associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and pulse pressure in middle-aged and older US adults

“…Aging is associated with a progressive increase in vascular stiffness and PP 2 . High PP has been attributed to elastic fiber degeneration and aortic dilation, which transfers the hemodynamic load to stiffer collagen 14 ; this condition is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and overall mortality 15 , 16 . Therefore, effective management of PP is very important to prevent cardiovascular disease and to ensure a healthy life in the elderly 6 , 7 .…”

The Role of Aortic Stiffness Parameters in Evaluating Myocardial Ischemia

“…Arterial stiffness is a process that results in deterioration of certain hemodynamic functions with reduced aortic compliance and elasticity due to the factors such as advanced age, HT, DM, HPL, smoking and renal failure [ 16 ]. In the previous studies, it was indicated that arterial stiffness was shown to be an independent predictor for cardiovascular mortality and all-cause deaths [ 9 , 15 , 20 , 22 , 28 ]. Development of aortic stiffness leads to an increase in central systolic blood pressure, a decrease in diastolic blood pressure and hence an increase in PP with multiple mechanisms.…”

“… PWV = ΔD/Δt PWV is now regarded as the gold standard for the measurement of aortic stiffness [ 26 , 27 ]. It was shown that the PWV calculated based on the measurements at the carotid and femoral arteries is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality and morbidity [ 28 ].…”

“…This index increases due to the impairment of elastic fibers on artery wall secondary to mechanical stress, and is used as a marker for aortic stiffness [ 11 , 28 ].…”