Assessment of major artery stiffness: new perspectives of noninvasive diagnosis of coronary atherosclerosis

Abstract

Aim. Arterial stiffness is a predictor of atherosclerosis. This study was conducted to develop a method of coronary atherosclerosis severity assessment by means of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Material and methods. We measured baPWV in 119 males (age 51.67 ± 7.25) who received coronary angiographic examination (CAG). The baPWV was measured by Vasera VS-1000 (Fukuda Denshi). Results. The patients were divided into two groups by severity of stenosis (group 1 - less than 50% stenosis, group 2 > 50%). The baPWV value was significantly greater in group 2 (n = 98, baPWV 13.15 ± 2.14 m/s, p = 0.004) than that in group 1 (n = 21, baPWV 12.13 ± 1.17 m/s). ROC-curve demonstrated that the best cut-off point of the baPWV for predicting occlusive atherosclerosis was 12.2 m/s. The area under ROC-curve was 0.66 (p = 0.034). An univariate binary logistic regression model demonstrated that only baPWV had a significant odds ratio for coronary stenosis > 50%: 2.68 (95% CI = 1.01-7.15), p = 0.043. Other risk factors were not significantly associated with severity of stenosis. Conclusion. The baPWV significantly reflects the severity of stenosis in middle-aged males opening new perspectives of noninvasive detection of coronary artery atherosclerosis in middle-aged males.

Keywords

• pulse wave velocity
• arterial stiffness
• atherosclerosis
• coronary heart disease