Does the integration of aortic stiffness measures into routine clinical assessment improve risk stratification for cardiovascular disease in aging individuals?
This review highlights the value of aortic stiffness as a cardiovascular risk factor and suggests ways to incorporate its measurement into routine clinical practice.
Aortic stiffness increases markedly with age and is associated with excess risk for various adverse clinical outcomes, including heart disease, dementia, and kidney disease. Although evidence for adverse effects of aortic stiffening is overwhelming, integration of direct and indirect measures of aortic stiffness into routine clinical assessment has lagged behind the science. This brief review will examine recent evidence supporting the value of stiffness as an important new risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular disease and will offer suggestions for incorporating stiffness measures into routine clinical practice.
Gary F. Mitchell (Mon,) studied this question.