Arterial stiffness

Arterial stiffness occurs as a consequence of biological aging and arteriosclerosis. Increased arterial stiffness is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke, the two leading causes of death in the developed world. The World Health Organisation predicts that in 2010, cardiovascular disease will also be the leading killer in the developing world and represents a major global health problem.

Several degenerative changes that occur with age in the walls of large elastic arteries are thought to contribute to increased stiffening over time, including the mechanical fraying of lamellar elastin structures within the wall due to repeated cycles of mechanical stress; changes in the kind and increases in content of arterial collagen proteins, partially as a compensatory mechanism against the loss of arterial elastin and partially due to fibrosis; and crosslinking of adjacent collagen fibers by advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs).

When the heart contracts it generates a pulse or energy wave that travels through the circulatory system. The speed of travel of this pulse wave (pulse wave velocity (PWV)) is related to the stiffness of the arteries. Other terms that are used to describe the mechanical properties of arteries include elastance, or the reciprocal (inverse) of elastance, compliance. The relationship between arterial stiffness and pulse wave velocity was first predicted by Thomas Young in his Croonian Lecture of 1808 but is generally described by the Moens–Korteweg equation or the Bramwell–Hill equation. Typical values of PWV in the aorta range from approximately 5 m/s to >15 m/s.

Measurement of aortic PWV provides some of the strongest evidence concerning the prognostic significance of large artery stiffening. Increased aortic PWV has been shown to predict cardiovascular, and in some cases all cause, mortality in individuals with end stage renal failure, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and in the general population. However, at present, the role of measurement of PWV as a general clinical tool remains to be established. Devices are on the market that measure arterial stiffness parameters (augmentation index, pulse wave velocity). These include the Complior, CVProfilor, PeriScope, Hanbyul Meditech, Mobil-O-Graph NG, BP Plus (Pulsecor), PulsePen, BPLab Vasotens, Arteriograph, and SphygmoCor.

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