Gabriel Demetrio Dimitrov
University of Milan, Italy
Title: Arterial stiffness and subendocardial viability ratio in patients with peripheral artery disease
Biography
Biography: Gabriel Demetrio Dimitrov
Abstract
Arterial stiffening is a hallmark of the aging process and atherosclerosis, including peripheral arterial disease (PAD). We investigated the associations between carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (c-fPWV), augmentation index corrected for heart rate (Aix@HR75), ankle-brachial index (ABI), and subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR), an indicator of cardiac perfusion. The c-fPWV, Aix@HR75, and SEVR was estimated using applanation tonometry. The ankle systolic pressure measurements for the calculation of the ABI were obtained using an 8-mHz Doppler probe. The study group included 555 subjects, mean age 63±11 years (248 PAD (ABI <1.0) and 307 non-PAD (ABI ≥1.0 ≤1.3). After the stepwise selection process PAD and non-PAD patients SEVR was not related to c-fPWV and ABI (P= .154; P= .156) and (P= .101; P= .402), respectively. In PAD patients, SEVR was negatively related to Aix@HR75 (P< .0001) and aortic PP (P= .0005) In conclusion, arterial stiffness is associated with non invasive indices of myocardial perfusion in PAD patients, suggesting a potential pathophysiological link for increased cardiovascular events.