Arterial stiffness and functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Neurology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Arterial stiffness, a common aging change, is measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV) and linked to stroke risk.
• Higher PWV indicates stiffer arteries, a factor associated with increased stroke risk, especially in hypertensive individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if pulse wave velocity (PWV) values predict functional outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke.
• To investigate the association between arterial stiffness and stroke severity.

Main Methods:

• One hundred acute ischemic stroke patients were classified by TOAST criteria (LAAS or SVD) and grouped by functional outcome (mRS < 3 or ≥ 3).
• Maximal brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV) was measured and compared between groups using t-tests or Mann-Whitney U-tests.
• Twenty-four patients were excluded due to inadequate data for baPWV or mRS assessment.

Main Results:

• Patients with poor functional outcome (mRS ≥ 3) had significantly higher baPWV values (2,070.05 ± 518.37 cm/s) than those with good outcome (1,838.63 ± 436.65 cm/s, p = 0.039).
• In the small vessel disease (SVD) subtype, baPWV was significantly higher in the poor outcome group (2,163.18 ± 412.71 vs. 1,789.80 ± 421.91, p = 0.022).
• No significant difference in baPWV was found between outcome groups in the large-artery atherosclerosis (LAAS) subtype (p = 0.579).

Conclusions:

• Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is associated with functional outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients.
• baPWV measurement can predict functional outcomes, especially in stroke patients with the small vessel disease (SVD) subtype.