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Published on: February 23, 2020
Clinical significance and reproducibility of new arterial distensibility index
Takuro Kubozono1, Masaaki Miyata, Kiyo Ueyama
1Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Metabolic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
Insights
The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) is a reliable measure of arterial stiffness, unaffected by blood pressure changes during measurement. This new index offers a more stable assessment of vascular health compared to brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular research
- Vascular physiology
- Biomedical engineering
Background:
- Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) assesses atherosclerosis but is sensitive to blood pressure fluctuations.
- Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was developed to measure arterial stiffness independently of blood pressure.
- CAVI utilizes pulse wave velocity and blood pressure, adjusted by the stiffness parameter beta.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) against brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).
- To assess the reproducibility of CAVI measurements.
- To investigate the impact of blood pressure variations on both CAVI and baPWV.
Main Methods:
- One thousand and thirty-three participants from general health checkups were analyzed.
- CAVI was automatically calculated using pulse volume records, blood pressure, and heart-to-ankle vascular length.
- Statistical analysis correlated CAVI and baPWV with age and systolic blood pressure.
Main Results:
- Both baPWV and CAVI positively correlated with age and systolic blood pressure (SBP).
- CAVI exhibited a weaker correlation with SBP compared to baPWV.
- CAVI measurements showed good reproducibility and were not significantly affected by increased blood pressure during the assessment.
Conclusions:
- CAVI is a valuable index for assessing arterial distensibility.
- CAVI measurements remain stable and are not influenced by blood pressure changes during the measurement process.
Background:
The brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is used to evaluate the degree of atherosclerosis and arterial distensibility, but its major limitation is that it is affected by changes in blood pressure (BP) during measurement. Recently, a new atherosclerotic index, the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), has been developed by measuring PWV and BP. CAVI is adjusted for BP based on the stiffness parameter beta and should measure arterial stiffness independent of BP. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of CAVI compared with baPWV, the reproducibility of the measurement of CAVI, and the effect of BP changes on CAVI and baPWV.
Methods And Results:
One thousand and thirty-three consecutive subjects undergoing health checkups were studied. CAVI was automatically calculated from the pulse volume record, BP, and the vascular length from heart to ankle. In this general population, both baPWV and CAVI demonstrated a positive correlation with age and systolic BP (SBP). CAVI showed a weaker correlation with SBP than baPWV. The measurement of CAVI demonstrated good reproducibility and was not affected by the increase in BP during measurement.
Conclusions:
CAVI is a useful index of arterial distensibility and is not influenced by BP changes during measurement.
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