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Measuring the Carotid to Femoral Pulse Wave Velocity (Cf-PWV) to Evaluate Arterial Stiffness
05:51

Measuring the Carotid to Femoral Pulse Wave Velocity (Cf-PWV) to Evaluate Arterial Stiffness

Published on: May 3, 2018

Expert consensus document on the measurement of aortic stiffness in daily practice using carotid-femoral pulse wave

Luc M Van Bortel1, Stephane Laurent, Pierre Boutouyrie

  • 1Heymans Institute of Pharmacology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

Journal of Hypertension
|January 27, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) is the gold standard for assessing arterial stiffness and cardiovascular risk. This consensus recommends standardizing cf-PWV measurements using 80% of the carotid-femoral distance and a 10 m/s cut-off value.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Clinical Physiology

Background:

  • Arterial stiffness, particularly in elastic arteries like the aorta, is a key predictor of cardiovascular risk.
  • Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) directly reflects arterial stiffness and is the gold standard for its assessment due to its predictive value and ease of measurement.
  • Current measurement procedures for cf-PWV lack standardization, especially concerning distance measurement, necessitating consensus guidelines.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide consensus recommendations for the standardization of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) measurement procedures.
  • To establish the most accurate method for estimating the distance between the carotid and femoral arteries for cf-PWV calculation.
  • To propose a new cut-off value for cf-PWV to better stratify cardiovascular risk.

Main Methods:

  • Review and synthesis of existing measurement procedures for cf-PWV.
  • Analysis of different methods for estimating the carotid-femoral distance.
  • Expert consensus development on recommended measurement protocols and interpretation values.

Main Results:

  • The consensus recommends using 80% of the direct carotid-femoral distance as the most accurate estimate for cf-PWV measurements.
  • A new cut-off value of 10 m/s for cf-PWV is advised for improved cardiovascular risk assessment.
  • Standardization of measurement procedures is crucial for reliable and comparable cf-PWV data.

Conclusions:

  • Standardized measurement of cf-PWV, including accurate distance estimation, is essential for clinical practice.
  • The recommended 80% distance and 10 m/s cut-off can enhance the reliability and predictive power of cf-PWV.
  • Adoption of these guidelines will improve the consistency of arterial stiffness assessment and cardiovascular risk stratification.

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