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Measuring the Carotid to Femoral Pulse Wave Velocity Cf-PWV to Evaluate Arterial Stiffness
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Effect of Heart Rate on Arterial Stiffness as Assessed by Pulse Wave Velocity

Isabella Tan1, Mark Butlin1, Bart Spronck1

  • 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Current Hypertension Reviews
|July 26, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Arterial stiffness, measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV), is crucial for cardiovascular health. The impact of heart rate on PWV remains unclear, despite its relevance to hypertension and mortality risk.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Vascular Physiology

Background:

  • Vascular assessment, particularly arterial stiffness via pulse wave velocity (PWV), is vital for diagnosing cardiovascular diseases.
  • PWV is recognized as a significant factor in hypertension prognosis and an independent predictor of mortality.
  • Established determinants of PWV include age and blood pressure, but the influence of heart rate is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the controversial effects of heart rate on pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements.
  • To clarify the relationship between heart rate and arterial stiffness, independent of blood pressure.
  • To explore potential mechanisms underlying heart rate-induced changes in arterial stiffness.

Main Methods:

  • Review of acute and epidemiological studies examining heart rate's effect on PWV.
  • Analysis of studies controlling for concomitant blood pressure changes.
  • Examination of proposed mechanisms, such as arterial wall viscoelasticity.

Main Results:

  • Conflicting results exist regarding the acute and epidemiological effects of heart rate on PWV.
  • Many acute studies are confounded by concurrent blood pressure variations.
  • Approximately half of epidemiological studies show a blood pressure-independent link between heart rate and PWV.

Conclusions:

  • The precise influence of heart rate on PWV measurements remains inconclusive.
  • Mechanisms linking heart rate to arterial stiffness, like viscoelasticity, require further elucidation.
  • Understanding the heart rate-PWV interaction is critical for cardiovascular risk assessment, especially with elevated heart rate being a risk factor.

Keywords:
Heart ratearterial stiffnessblood pressurepulse wave velocityvascularviscoelasticity.

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