Incremental value of the measures of arterial stiffness in cardiovascular risk assessment

Abstract

Predicting the occurrence of organ damage and future cardiovascular events is critical to improving patient prognosis through early personalized treatment. Although many tools have been developed and used for individuals' cardiovascular risk, they have limitations and unmet needs for improved risk stratification. For this purpose, arterial stiffness information can be practical. Arterial walls stiffen with age or prolonged exposure to various noxious stimuli such as high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, inflammation and oxidative stress. Differently from several methods of measuring arterial stiffness, pulse wave velocity (PWV) is most widely used for its noninvasive and easy measurement. It is well authorized that information on arterial stiffness is associated with the development of future cardiovascular events, independent from traditional cardiovascular risk factors, in various patient groups with specific diseases along with the general population. Moreover, when this information of arterial stiffness is associated with other risk stratification tools, it is possible to predict individuals' cardiovascular risk easier. Herein, we will review the incremental value of the measurement of arterial stiffness in cardiovascular risk assessment when combined with other risk factors such as traditional risk factors, biomarkers, other vascular testing and non-invasive cardiac imaging.

Shift Work and Early Arterial Stiffness: A Systematic Review

“…The study of arterial stiffness has been increasing in the cardiovascular field. Arteries tend to lose elasticity naturally with senescence (aging) or stiffen earlier from prolonged exposure to harmful conditions such as blood pressure, hyperglycemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress [ 13 , 14 ]. Arterial stiffness has been significantly associated with arteriosclerosis and future cardiovascular outcomes in the general population and in patients with various diseases, even with adjustments for multiple confounders regarding cardiovascular risk [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Comparison of Central Aortic Pressure between Women with Preeclampsia and Normotensive Postpartum Women from an Urban Region of Western Mexico

“…In patients with preeclampsia, the measurement of CAP showed that despite normal BBP values (even when these patients presented statistically higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure values), CAP remained high [ 23 ]; therefore, this evaluation provides us with important data on arterial stiffness, which is closely related to cardiovascular disease, heart failure, stroke, acute myocardial infarction, hypertensive crisis, and eclampsia [ 1 , 9 , 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Volume of the proximal half of the thoracic aorta is the most comprehensive FDG-PET/CT indicator of arterial aging throughout adulthood

“…Registered 17 November 2017, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03345290?term=NCT03345290&draw=2&rank=1 Background Aorta function and stiffness are central to the increase in systolic and pulse blood pressure (BP) that occurs with advancing age. Aorta stiffness per se, is a strong indicator of the risk of cardiovascular events (Laurent et al 2006;Lee et al 2022) and the gold standard for its noninvasive measurement is the aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) -i.e., the velocity by which the arterial pulse wave travels along the aorta (Laurent et al 2006).…”