Aortic pulse wave velocity results depend on which carotid artery is used for the measurements

Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) is a gold standard noninvasive marker of arterial stiffness. aPWV is usually obtained as carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity by measurements on the common carotid artery and the femoral artery. The carotid arteries branch slightly differently from the aorta towards the right and left side of the neck. Theoretically, using the right or left carotid artery could influence aPWV results and there are no clear guidelines to support the choice of side. The aim of this study was to investigate whether aPWV results depend on right or left side carotid artery measurements in a group of healthy individuals.

Two different observers examined 50 individuals without known cardiovascular disease between 23 and 66 years of age. The measurements were performed with the SphygmoCor equipment using both right and left carotid arteries. We found that use of the right carotid artery provided significantly higher aPWV values compared with the left carotid artery, also when using different methods to estimate the travel length of the pulse wave (pooled data, subtracted distance: 0.2 ± 0.4 m/s, P = 0.003; direct distance: 0.2 ± 0.5 m/s, P = 0.001).

Using right or left carotid artery affects aPWV, as right-side measurements provided higher values. Attention to this side difference and use of the same carotid artery will increase the strength of intervention studies using aPWV as a surrogate endpoint.