Arterial stiffness is increasingly recognized as an important determinant of cardiovascular risk and may be directly involved in the process of atherosclerosis. As atherosclerosis leads to increased arterial resistance and decrease the flow propagation speed within the arterial lumen, a similar decrease in aortic flow propagation with increased downstream resistance is detected, so aortic flow propagation velocity AVP was evaluated in many studies as a new parameter of aortic stiffness.
Aim: To measure arterial stiffness using the new parameter AVP and compare it to flow mediated dilatation FMD as a parameter of endothelial dysfunction in patients with metabolic syndrome MS.
Methods: AVP (assessed by transthoracic echocardiography) and FMD (assessed by brachial artery reactivity test) were measured in 100 patients with MS (Group 1) and were compared to 14 normal subjects (Group 2).
Results: Patients with MS had significantly lower values of AVP as compared to the normal subjects; 36 ± 5 cm/s vs 57 ± 5, p < 0.05, and lower FMD; 6% ± 1 vs 17 ± 3 p < 0.05 as well, there was significant correlations between AVP and FMD (r = 0.89, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Transthoracic echocardiographic determination of AVP is a simple practical method and correlates well with FMD in patients with MS.
Keywords: ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate transaminase; AVP; AVP, aortic velocity propagation; Aortic propagation velocity; Arterial stiffness; CRP, C reactive protein; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; E/e′, filling pressure; EPF, epicardial fat; FBS, fasting blood sugar; FMD, flow mediated dilatation; HDL, high density lipoprotein; IVS, interventricular septum; Metabolic syndrome; SBP, systolic blood pressure; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; UA, uric acid; WC, waist circumference.