Establishing Reference Values for Pulse Wave Velocity in Young People: The Youth Vascular Consortium

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Health
• Vascular Aging Research
• Pediatric Cardiology

Background:

• Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a key indicator of vascular aging and cardiovascular risk in adults.
• Establishing reference values for PWV in youth is crucial for early cardiovascular disease risk assessment.
• The Youth Vascular Consortium database facilitates research into vascular aging in younger populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop reference values for aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) in healthy young individuals.
• To enable the identification of youth at increased risk of cardiovascular disease through vascular aging assessment.
• To contribute to the understanding of vascular aging trends in a diverse, international cohort of young people.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective, multicenter study harmonized data from 19,930 participants aged 1 to 40 years.
• Generalized additive models were employed to derive percentile curves for aortic PWV.
• Data included demographics, anthropometrics, biochemical markers, and vascular aging measures from six different assessment devices.

Main Results:

• Reference values for aortic PWV were constructed for healthy youth (mean age 17 years, 51% female, 71% European).
• Device-specific percentile curves revealed an increasing trend in aortic PWV with age for both sexes.
• Participants were classified as healthy based on blood pressure, BMI, glucose, and cholesterol levels.

Conclusions:

• This study provides essential reference values for aortic PWV in healthy young people, stratified by age and sex.
• These percentiles can be clinically utilized to detect impaired vascular aging in youth.
• Early identification of vascular aging may help predict future cardiovascular disease risk in adolescents and young adults.