Advanced Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Therapy (Dec 2023)

Arterial Stiffness and Cardiovascular Risk: The Role of Brachial Cuff-measured Index

  • Lin Jin, MD, Xinyi Li, BS, Mengjiao Zhang, MS, Xujie Zhang, BS, Chaoyu Xian, BS, Fuyou Liang, PhD, Zhaojun Li, MD

DOI
https://doi.org/10.37015/AUDT.2023.230045
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 4
pp. 348 – 355

Abstract

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Early detection of vascular disease is fundamental to the prevention and treatment of systemic vascular lesions. The timely identification of vascular damage can be achieved by comprehensively assessing the structural anomaly and/or functional degeneration of the vasculature. The assessment may to some extent indicate the long-term detrimental effects of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors on vascular health. A key aspect in the evaluation of vascular function is the measurement of arterial stiffness. In 2012, the arterial velocity-pulse index (AVI) and arterial pressure-volume index (API) were introduced, which are noninvasively measured with a brachial cuff, and can reflect the status of arterial stiffness in both the aorta and the brachial artery. A large number of relevant studies have demonstrated the strong associations between AVI/API and various CVD risk factors, underlining the substantial relevance of the indices in CVD risk assessment. In this review, we provide a systematic review of the progresses made in brachial cuff-based measurements of arterial stiffness. In addition, we summarize the results of the recent studies focused on exploring the associations of AVI/API with relevant risk factors as well as their roles in CVD assessment.

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