Is There an Association Between Carotid-Femoral Pulse Wave Velocity and Coronary Heart Disease in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease: A Pilot Study.
Niki Katsiki: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hip-pocration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Erietta Kollari: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hip-pocration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Sotirios Dardas: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hip-pocration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Petros Dardas: Department of Cardiology, Agios Loukas Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Anna-Bettina Haidich: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Vasilios G Athyros: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hip-pocration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Asterios Karagiannis: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hip-pocration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Arterial stiffness has been shown to predict cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) is regarded the gold standard marker of Arterial stiffness. In previous studies, cfPWV was associated with the presence of coronary heart disease (CHD). However, with regard to CHD severity as assessed by the Syntax Score, only brachial-ankle PWV was reported to correlate with Syntax Score; no data exist for cfPWV. In this pilot study, we evaluated the possible associations between cfPWV, CHD and Syntax Score in 62 consecutive pa-tients (49 males; mean age: 64±12years) with chest pain undergoing scheduled coronary angiography. cfPWV was signifi-cantly higher in CHDpatients than in non-CHD individuals (10 vs. 8.4 m/s; p = 0.003). No significant association was found between cfPWV and CHD severity as assessed by Syntax Score. A cut-off point of 12.3 m/s was considered as diagnostic for abnormally increased cfPWV (specificity: 97%; sensitivity: 12%; positive likelihood ratio: 3.558). Further research is needed to establish the relationship between cfPWV and Syntax Score.
