Prognostic Impact of Aortic Stiffness in High-Risk Type 2 Diabetic Patients

OBJECTIVE: The prognostic importance of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), the gold standard measure of aortic stiffness, has been scarcely investigated in type 2 diabetes and never after full adjustment for potential confounders. The aim was to evaluate the prognostic impact of carotid-femoral PWV for cardiovascular morbidity and all-cause mortality in a cohort of 565 high-risk type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Clinical, laboratory, ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring, and carotid-femoral PWV data were obtained at baseline. The primary end points were a composite of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. Multiple Cox survival analysis was used to assess the associations between carotid-femoral PWV, as a continuous variable and categorized at 10 m/s, and the end points. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 5.75 years, 88 total cardiovascular events and 72 all-cause deaths occurred. After adjustments for potential cardiovascular risk factors, including micro- and macrovascular complications, ambulatory BP, and metabolic control, carotid-femoral PWV was predictive of the composite end point but not of all-cause mortality both as a continuous variable (hazard ratio 1.13 95% CI 1.03-1.23, P = 0.009 for increments of 1 m/s) and as categorized at 10 m/s (1.92 1.16-3.18, P = 0.012). On sensitivity analysis, carotid-femoral PWV was a better predictor of cardiovascular events in younger patients (<65 years), in those with microvascular complications, and in those with poorer glycemic control (HbA1c ≥7.5% 58.5 mmol/mol). CONCLUSIONS: Carotid-femoral PWV provides cardiovascular risk prediction independent of standard risk factors, glycemic control, and ambulatory BPs and improves cardiovascular risk stratification in high-risk type 2 diabetes.