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Updated: Sep 20, 2026

Measuring the Carotid to Femoral Pulse Wave Velocity (Cf-PWV) to Evaluate Arterial Stiffness
Published on: May 3, 2018
Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and symptomatic cerebral infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes: a
Osamu Ogawa1, Tomio Onuma, Sayaka Kubo
1Department of Medicine, Metabolism and Endocrinology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan. GGD03273@nifty.ne.jp
Background:
Recently a new automatic device that measures brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity using an oscillometric method has been developed. However, the practical significance of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity measurement remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and symptomatic cerebral infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Methods:
One thousand sixty six patients with type 2 diabetes were studied cross-sectionally. Measurements of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity were made using the automatic device. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratio for cerebral infarction.
Results:
The presence of symptomatic cerebral infarction was confirmed in 86 patients. In these patients brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was found to be significantly higher than in patients without cerebral infarction (18.94 +/-; 4.95 versus 16.46 +/-; 3.62 m/s, p < 0.01). The association between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and cerebral infarction remained significant after adjustment for traditional risk factors. There was an increasing odds ratio for each tertile of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, from the second tertile (odds ratio, 2.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 4.94), to the third (odds ratio, 2.53; 95% confidence interval, 1.09 to 5.86).
Conclusion:
Overall, we conclude that an increase in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity is associated with symptomatic cerebral infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes.
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