Carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity acquisition methods and their associations with cardiovascular risk factors and subclinical biomarkers of vascular health

Background: Different methods to measure carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV) may affect the measurements obtained and influence the association between CFPWV, cardiovascular risk factors and biomarkers of subclinical vascular health. The estimation of distance between the carotid and femoral artery measurement sites (the arterial path length) is particularly problematic. Method: We determined if CFPWV and equation-based estimates of CFPWV were influenced by arterial path length and if this affected the association of CFPWV with cardiovascular risk factors and subclinical vascular biomarkers. The CFPWV derived from the measurement of surface distance (CFPWV-D), arterial path length formula (CFPWV-F), and estimated CFPWV (ePWV) were obtained from 489 older adults (67.2 ± 8.8 years). Macrovascular [carotid artery: lumen diameter (LD), inter-adventitial diameter (IAD), intima–media thickness (IMT) and total plaque area (TPA)] and microvascular [reactive hyperaemia index and urinary albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR)] biomarkers were also measured. Results: CFPWV-D was significantly greater than CFPWV-F [9.6 (8.0–11.2) vs. 8.9 (7.6–10.5) m/s, P 
Source: Journal of Hypertension - Category: Cardiology Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLES Source Type: research