Association between measurements of arterial stiffness and target organ damage in a general Spanish population

Abstract

Introduction: Little is known about the relationship between arterial stiffness and cardiovascular target organ damage (TOD) in the general population. The aim was to analyse the relationship between different measurements of arterial stiffness and TOD, in a general Spanish population without a history of cardiovascular event.

Materials and methods: Transversal descriptive study. Through stratified random sampling, a total of 501 individuals were included. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) was measured using a SphygmoCor System^®, the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was determined with aVasera VS-1500^® and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV)was calculated through a validated equation.

Results: The average age was 55.84 ± 14.26.The percentage of vascular TOD, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and renal TOD was higher in men (p < .001). A positive correlation was obtained between carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) and the measurements of vascular function. In the model 1 of the logistic regression analysis, cf-PWV was associated with vascular TOD (OR = 1.15, p = .040), ba-PWV was associated with vascular TOD (OR = 1.20, p = .010) and LVH (OR = 1.12, p = .047).

Conclusions: The different measurements of arterial stiffness are highly associated with each other. Moreover, cf-PWV and ba-PWV were associated with vascular TOD, and ba-PWV with LVH, although they disappear when adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors. Key Messages There is a strong correlation between the different measurements of vascular structure and function. Carotid-femoral and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity were positively associated with vascular target organ damage, the latter was also positively associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. This associations disappear when adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors.

Keywords: Vascular stiffness; target organ damage; vascular function; vascular structure.

Figure 1.

Estimated average and standard deviation of cf-PWV, ba-PWV and CAVI in subjects with and without vascular and renal TOD, and LVH. p-value: differences among groups. TOD: target organ damage; LVH: left ventricular hypertrophy; cf-PWV: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; ba-PWV: brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity; CAVI: cardio-ankle vascular index.

Figure 2.

Estimated average and standard deviation of cf-PWV, ba-PWV and CAVI in subjects with and without vascular and renal TOD, and LVH. Adjusted for age (years) and sex (0= female, 1 = male). p-value: differences among groups. TOD: target organ damage; LVH: left ventricular hypertrophy; cf-PWV: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; ba-PWV: brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity; CAVI: cardio-ankle vascular index.

Figure 3.

A. Logistic regression analysis adjusted by age (years), smoking (years), sex, alcohol (gr), total physical activity (hour/week) and Mediterranean Diet (points), OR of cf-PWV, ba-PWV and CAVI with vascular and renal TOD, and LVH. B. Logistic regression analysis adjusted by age (years), smoking (years), sex, alcohol (gr), total physical activity (hour/week), Mediterranean Diet (points), SBP (mmHg), BMI (kg/m²), FPG (mg/dl) and triglycerides (mg/dl), OR of cf-PWV, ba-PWV and CAVI with vascular and renal TOD, and LVH. TOD: target organ damage; LVH: left ventricular hypertrophy;cf-PWV: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; ba-PWV: brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity; CAVI: cardio-ankle vascular index.

Figure 4.

Receiver operating curve of cf-PWV, ba-PWV and CAVI to identify vascular TOD (a), LVH (b) and renal TOD (c). Areas under the ROC curves are summarised in Table 4. TOD: target organ damage; LVH: left ventricular hypertrophy; cf-PWV: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; ba-PWV: brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity; CAVI: cardio-ankle vascular index.