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Aortic pulse wave velocity: an independent marker of cardiovascular risk
Michel E Safar1, Olivier Henry, Sylvie Meaume
1Department of Internal Medicine and INSERM U337, Broussais Hospital, 75674 Paris, France. michel.safar@brs.ap-hop-paris.fr
Insights
Aortic pulse wave velocity, an indicator of aortic stiffness, predicts cardiovascular mortality in hypertensive individuals. This finding is crucial for assessing cardiovascular risk in older populations, as it is significantly influenced by age.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Geriatrics
- Diagnostic Ultrasound
Background:
- Aortic stiffness is a key indicator of cardiovascular health.
- Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a well-established measure of aortic stiffness.
- Noninvasive ultrasound methods offer reproducible measurement of aortic PWV.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the predictive value of aortic pulse wave velocity for cardiovascular mortality.
- To assess the significance of aortic PWV in hypertensive populations, including those with end-stage renal disease.
- To highlight the importance of aortic PWV for cardiovascular risk evaluation in geriatric populations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized noninvasive ultrasound techniques for high-reproducibility measurement of aortic pulse wave velocity.
- Conducted epidemiologic studies on hypertensive subjects.
- Accounted for confounding factors including age, blood pressure, and cardiac mass.
Main Results:
- Aortic pulse wave velocity independently predicts cardiovascular mortality in hypertensive individuals.
- This predictive value was observed in both patients with and without end-stage renal disease.
- Age was identified as a dominant influence on aortic pulse wave velocity.
Conclusions:
- Aortic pulse wave velocity is a significant predictor of cardiovascular mortality in hypertensive patients.
- The age-dependent nature of aortic PWV makes it particularly relevant for cardiovascular risk assessment in the elderly.
- Noninvasive measurement of aortic PWV offers a valuable tool for clinical practice, especially in geriatric populations.
Abstract:
Aortic pulse wave velocity, a classic index of aortic stiffness, may be easily measured in humans using noninvasive ultrasound methods of high reproducibility. Recent epidemiologic studies have shown that, independently of confounding factors such as age, blood pressure and cardiac mass, aortic pulse wave velocity is a predictor of cardiovascular mortality in populations of hypertensive subjects, whether they have end-stage renal disease or not. Since aortic pulse wave velocity is dominantly influenced by age, this finding may be of major importance for the evaluation of cardiovascular risk in geriatric populations.