Brachial - Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity is a Simple and Independent Predictor of Prognosis in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome

• Published in: Circulation Journal Vol. 69; no. 7; pp. 815 - 822
• Main Authors: Tomiyama, Hirofumi, Koji, Yutaka, Yambe, Minoru, Shiina, Kazuki, Motobe, Kohki, Yamada, Jiko, Shido, Naohisa, Tanaka, Nobuhiro, Chikamori, Taishiro, Yamashina, Akira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Japanese Circulation Society 01.07.2005
• Subjects: Acute coronary syndrome; Ankle - blood supply; Brachial Artery - physiopathology; Coronary Disease - complications; Coronary Disease - physiopathology; Death; Follow-Up Studies; Heart Failure - diagnosis; Predictive Value of Tests; Prognosis; Pulse - methods; Pulse wave velocity; Stroke - diagnosis
• ISSN: 1346-9843; 1347-4820
• DOI: 10.1253/circj.69.815

Background Although a very simple method of measuring brachial - ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) has become available in a clinical setting, whether baPWV can predict future cardiovascular events remains uncertain. We examined whether baPWV is a predictor of cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods and Results baPWV measurement was performed in 215 consecutive patients with ACS. During the follow-up period (26±10 months), 46 patients experienced post-hospitalization cardiovascular events (18 patients experienced a major event (eg, stroke, re-admission for heart failure or cardiac death), and 28 patients experienced coronary re-intervention). A receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated that the best cut-off point of a baPWV for predicting a post-hospitalization cardiovascular event was 17.00 m/s and that for predicting a major cardiovascular event was 18.00 m/s. After the adjustment for the conventional risk factors influencing the prognosis, a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model demonstrated that both cut-off points of baPWV had a significant hazard ratio for a post-hospitalization event: 5.47 (2.69-11.09) and for a major cardiovascular event: 9.22 (2.78-30.56). Conclusions baPWV is a simple predictor of the prognosis of patients with ACS that is independent of conventional risk factors for ACS. (Circ J 2005; 69: 815 - 822)