Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome was associated with a lower carotid stiffness change over the cardiac cycle compared to healthy individuals (0.021 vs. 0.057 m/s per mmHg; P=0.0035).
Observational (n=139)
Does ultrafast ultrasound imaging detect differences in carotid stiffness change over the cardiac cycle between healthy individuals and patients with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?
Ultrafast ultrasound imaging can detect age-induced increases in arterial diastolic-systolic stiffening in healthy individuals and lower stiffening in patients with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Absolute Event Rate: 0.021% vs 0.057%
p-value: p=0.0035
OBJECTIVES: Arterial stiffness is related to age and collagen properties of the arterial wall and can be indirectly evaluated by the pulse wave velocity (PWV). Ultrafast ultrasound imaging, a unique ultrahigh frame rate technique (>10, 000 images/s), recently emerged enabling direct measurement of carotid PWV and its variation over the cardiac cycle. Our goal was to characterize the carotid diastolic-systolic arterial stiffening using ultrafast ultrasound imaging in healthy individuals and in vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS), in which collagen type III is defectuous. METHODS: Ultrafast ultrasound imaging was performed on common carotids of 102 healthy individuals and 37 consecutive patients with vEDS. Results are mean ± standard deviation. RESULTS: Carotid ultrafast ultrasound imaging PWV in healthy individuals was 5.6 ± 1.2 in early systole and 7.3 ± 2.0 m/s in end systole, and correlated with age (r = 0.48; P < 0.0001 and r = 0.68; P < 0.0001, respectively). Difference between early and end-systole PWV increased with age independently of blood pressure (r = 0.54; P < 0.0001). In patients with vEDS, ultrafast ultrasound imaging PWV was 6.0 ± 1.5 in early systole and 6.7 ± 1.5 m/s in end systole. Carotid stiffness change over the cardiac cycle was lower than in healthy people (0.021 vs. 0.057 m/s per mmHg; P = 0.0035). CONCLUSION: Ultrafast ultrasound imaging can evaluate carotid PWV and its variation over the cardiac cycle. This allowed to demonstrate the age-induced increase of the arterial diastolic-systolic stiffening in healthy people and a lower stiffening in vEDS, both characterized by arterial complications. We believe that this easy-to-use technique could offer the opportunity to go beyond the diastolic PWV to better characterize arterial stiffness change with age or other collagen alterations.
Mirault et al. (2015) conducted an observational in Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (n=139). Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome vs. Healthy individuals was evaluated on Carotid stiffness change over the cardiac cycle (m/s per mmHg) (p=0.0035). Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome was associated with a lower carotid stiffness change over the cardiac cycle compared to healthy individuals (0.021 vs. 0.057 m/s per mmHg; P=0.0035).