| Summary: | Introduction: Fully automated cuff-based devices have been developed for the assessment of arterial stiffness via pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurement, such as the VaSera device (Fukuda Denshi). To date, measurements were confined to the heart-to-ankle segment, yielding PWV and stiffness indices that are not easily inked to carotid-femoral PWV (cf-PWV), the presumed reference for measurement of aortic PWV.
Methods: We performed initial tests (N=14, 9 males, mean age 27.4±3.3, BMI 23.8±3.4) using a novel thigh-cuff prototype that can be used as a substitute for the ankle cuffs in the VaSera device. Extracted data included heart-thigh (ht-PWV) and heart-ankle (ha-PWV). cf-PWV was obtained using ultrasound (GE Vivid 7) on the right side.
Results: Measurements were successfully obtained for all subjects. cf-PWV was 5.32 ± 0.43 m/s. ha-PWV was 6.35±0.49 m/s, and was significantly higher than cf-PWV (paired t-test; P<0.001). ht-PWV, on the other hand, was 5.51±0.50 m/s and was not significantly different from cf-PWV. Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated a non-significant bias of 0.19±0.54 m/s of ht-PWV with respect to cf-PWV.
Conclusion: We conclude that, in this small-sized young and healthy population, fully automated measurement of heart-thigh PWV is straightforward and easy. Measured values were not different from carotid-femoral PWV. Further research is warranted to confirm these findings in a larger population spanning a large age range and cardiovascular risk profiles.
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