Arterial stiffness: A brief review

Abstract

Apart from the result of multiple diseases as well as aging, arterial stiffness (AS) predicts cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patients with CKD have high CVD prevalence, and an extraordinarily high risk for CVD might be related to nontraditional risk factors, including AS. The mechanism of AS development could be attributed to oxidative stress, inflammation, uremic milieu (e.g., uremic toxins), vascular calcification, and cumulative effects of traditional cardiovascular risk factors on arteries such as diabetes mellitus or hypertension. There were a variety of non-invasive techniques to measure AS. One of these techniques is carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity, which is the reference measurement of AS and is related to long-term CVD outcomes. AS progression has corresponding medical treatments with modest beneficial results. This review briefly discusses the risk factors, measurements, and treatments associated with AS.

Keywords

• arterial stiffness
• cardiovascular disease
• chronic kidney disease
• pulse wave velocity