Does pulse wave velocity (PWV) correlate with the presence and severity of coronary artery disease in patients undergoing coronary angiography?
Pulse wave velocity is significantly elevated in patients with coronary artery disease and correlates with angiographic disease severity, supporting its use as a complementary cardiovascular risk marker.
To determine whether pulse wave velocity (PWV) as a measure of arterial stiffness is a marker of coronary artery diseases (CAD), the authors did a cross-sectional study in 92 patients undergoing coronary angiography for suspected CAD. Arterial stiffness was assessed through recording PWV from the left carotid-right femoral arteries using an automated machine. The mean PWV was higher in patients with CAD than in those without CAD (11.13+/-0.91 vs 8.14+/-1.25 m/sec; P<.001). When the severity of CAD was expressed as 1-, 2-, and multiple-vessel disease, there was a significant association between the severity of CAD and PWV. PWV differed significantly with different categorical severity of CAD even when age and total cholesterol were controlled for. In a univariable analysis, PWV was higher with higher systolic blood pressure (P<.004). The authors conclude that arterial stiffness measured through PWV is an independent and complementary cardiovascular risk marker.
Alarhabi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.