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Updated: Nov 16, 2025
Pulse Wave Velocity Testing in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
Published on: February 7, 2014
Usefulness of Estimated Pulse Wave Velocity in Prediction of Cardiovascular Mortality in Patients With Acute
Po-Chao Hsu1, Wen-Hsien Lee2, Wei-Chung Tsai1
1Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Insights
Estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV) can predict long-term cardiovascular mortality in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. This simple calculation offers a valuable tool for assessing arterial stiffness and predicting outcomes post-AMI.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Vascular Medicine
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a key indicator of arterial stiffness and cardiovascular outcome.
- Estimated PWV (ePWV), derived from age and blood pressure, also predicts cardiovascular outcomes.
- The utility of ePWV in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients for predicting long-term mortality remained unevaluated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the predictive value of ePWV for long-term cardiovascular and overall mortality in AMI patients.
- To determine if ePWV is a useful, accessible tool for risk stratification in AMI survivors.
Main Methods:
- 187 patients admitted with AMI were enrolled.
- ePWV was calculated for each patient using established equations.
- Patients were followed for a median of 73 months to track mortality events.
Main Results:
- ePWV independently predicted both cardiovascular (CV) and overall mortality in univariable analysis.
- After multivariable adjustment, ePWV remained a significant independent predictor of long-term CV mortality.
- 35 CV deaths and 125 overall deaths were recorded during follow-up.
Conclusions:
- This study is the first to evaluate ePWV in AMI patients for predicting long-term mortality.
- ePWV is a simple, easily calculable tool that independently predicts long-term CV mortality in AMI patients.
- ePWV serves as a valuable method for assessing arterial stiffness and predicting CV outcomes in AMI patients without specialized equipment.
Background:
Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is an excellent index of arterial stiffness and can be used to predict long-term cardiovascular (CV) outcome. In recent years, estimated PWV (ePWV), calculated by equations using age and mean blood pressure, was also reported to be a significant predictor of CV outcomes. However, there was no literature discussing about usefulness of ePWV in patients of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) for prediction of long-term CV and overall mortality. Therefore, we conducted this study for further evaluation.
Methods:
A total of 187 patients with AMI admitted to cardiac care unit were enrolled. ePWV were calculated by the equations for each patient.
Results:
The median follow-up to mortality was 73 months (25th-75th percentile: 8-174 months). There were 35 and 125 patients documented as CV and overall mortality, respectively. Under univariable analysis, ePWV could independently predict long-term CV and overall mortality. However, after multivariable analysis, ePWV could only predict long-term CV mortality in AMI patients.
Conclusions:
To the best of our knowledge, our study was the first to evaluate the usefulness of ePWV in AMI patients for prediction of long-term CV and overall mortality. Our study showed ePWV was not only easy to calculate by formula, but also an independent predictor for long-term CV mortality in univariable and multivariable analyses. Therefore, ePWV was a simple and useful tool to measure arterial stiffness and to predict CV mortality outcome in AMI patients without the necessity for equipment to measure PWV.
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