Pulse Wave Velocity in Four Extremities for Assessing Cardiovascular Risk Using a New Device

• Published in: The journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) Vol. 16; no. 5; pp. 378 - 384
• Main Authors: Muñoz‐Tsorrero, Juan Francisco Sanchez, Tardio‐Fernandez, Marcos, Valverde‐Valverde, Jose M., Duque‐Carrillo, Francisco, Vega‐Fernandez, Jose M., Joya‐Vazquez, Pedro, Vega‐Fernandez, Jorge
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley and Sons Inc 01.05.2014
• Subjects: Adult; Blood Flow Velocity; Blood Pressure; Cardiovascular Diseases - diagnosis; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology; Equipment Design; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Middle Aged; Original Paper; Original Papers; Pulsatile Flow - physiology; Pulse Wave Analysis - instrumentation; Reproducibility of Results; Risk Assessment - methods; Spain - epidemiology; Spain
• ISSN: 1524-6175; 1751-7176; 1751-7176
• DOI: 10.1111/jch.12304

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is used for evaluating atherosclerosis; however, it is far from routine use. The authors validate a new device measuring PWV independently in each limb and explore its usefulness. Validity was studied in 40 patients. PWV was compared with endovascular measurements and comparisons were made between PWV in the extremities in 220 patients. The correlation between brachial PWV and endovascular catheter was (r=0.83, P<.001). The correlation coefficients for interobserver and intraobserver were r=0.87 and r=0.91, respectively. The sum of PWV in limbs allowed better stratification of patients according to cardiovascular risk. The validity and reproducibility of PWV measured with this device was good. The sum of PWV in extremities was a good index for stratifying patients according to vascular risk. These results suggest that the device is useful in the evaluation of arteriosclerosis and could possibly replace measurement devices available today.