Artery stiffness

Background : Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype autoimmune disease associated with increased cardiovascular (CV) burden. Besides increased arterial stiffness and subclinical atherosclerosis, microvascular dysfunction is considered an important component in the pathophysiology of CV disease. However, there is a lack of data regarding the effect of multiple target organ damage (TOD) on CV health. Objectives : This study aimed to evaluate (i) the presence of microvascular changes in SLE in various vascular beds, (ii) the possible associations between the accumulation of microvascular TOD and CV risk and (iii) whether Galectin-3 represents a predictor of combined microvascular TOD...

PURPOSE: Postmenopausal women experience augmented aortic hemodynamic responses to isometric handgrip (IHG) exercise and metaboreflex activation post-exercise muscle ischemia (PEMI). Relationships between endothelial function brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and aortic stiffness carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) with aortic pulsatile hemodynamics during IHG and PEMI have not been determined. The relationships between aortic hemodynamic responses to PEMI were evaluated...

MR imaging's exceptional capabilities in vascular imaging stem from its ability to visualize and quantify vessel wall features, such as plaque burden, composition, and biomechanical properties. The application of advanced MR imaging techniques, including two-dimensional and three-dimensional black-blood MR imaging, T1 and T2 relaxometry, diffusion-weighted imaging, and dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging, wall shear stress, and arterial stiffness, empowers clinicians and researchers to explore the intricacies of vascular diseases...

BACKGROUND: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) represent diffuse small vessel disease implicating the cardiac, systemic, and cerebral vasculatures. As the brain may be the end-organ of cumulative vascular disease, and higher education is protective of both cardiovascular and brain health, we aim to clarify their intertwining relationships. METHODS: We evaluated participants (mean age = 64) from the UK Biobank with neuroimaging measures of WMHs, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) quantified using cardiovascular MRI, and arterial stiffness index (ASI) quantified using finger photoplethysmography...

Noise pollution has grown to be a major public health issue worldwide. We sought to profile serum metabolite expression changes related to occupational noise exposure by untargeted metabolomics, as well as to evaluate the potential roles of serum metabolites in occupational noise-associated arterial stiffness (AS). Our study involved 30 noise-exposed industrial personnel (Lipo group) and 30 noise-free controls (Blank group). The untargeted metabolomic analysis was performed by employing a UPLC-HRMS. The associations of occupational noise and significant differential metabolites (between Blank/Lipo groups) with AS were evaluated using multivariable-adjusted generalized linear models...

Liver congestion is increasingly encountered in clinical practice and presents diagnostic pitfalls of which radiologists must be aware. The complex altered hemodynamics associated with liver congestion leads to diffuse parenchymal changes and the development of benign and malignant nodules. Distinguishing commonly encountered benign hypervascular lesions, such as focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH)-like nodules, from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be challenging due to overlapping imaging features. FNH-like lesions enhance during the hepatic arterial phase and remain isoenhancing relative to the background liver parenchyma but infrequently appear to wash out at delayed phase imaging, similar to what might be seen with HCC...

Mechanisms behind the protective effects of aerobic exercise on brain health remain elusive but may be vascular in origin and relate to cerebral pulsatility. This pilot study investigated the effects of 12 wks aerobic exercise training on cerebral pulsatility and its vascular contributors (large artery stiffness, characteristic impedance) in at-risk middle-aged adults. 28 inactive middle-aged adults with elevated blood pressure or stage 1 hypertension were assigned to either moderate/vigorous aerobic exercise training (AET) for 3 d/wk or no-exercise control (CON) group...

BACKGROUND: The associations of body fat parameters with arterial stiffness measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in hypertensive patients were scarce. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed 4322 hypertensive adults. The correlations between the anthropometric indexes (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference, waist-tohip ratio [WHR], waist-to-height ratio [WHtR], a body shape index [ABSI], body round index [BRI]) and ba-PWV values were analyzed using multivariable linear regression model...

BACKGROUND: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is the most common cardiac complication in patients with coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD), yet its underlying pathways remain unclear. Aortic pulse-wave velocity (aPWV) is an indicator of large artery stiffness and a predictor for cardiovascular disease. However, aPWV in CMD and HFpEF is not well characterized and may provide understanding of disease progression. METHODS: Among participants without obstructive coronary artery disease, we evaluated 51 women with suspected CMD and 20 women and men with evidence of HFpEF...

BACKGROUND: Shear wave elastography (SWE) is mainly used for stiffness estimation of large, homogeneous tissues, such as the liver and breasts. However, little is known about its accuracy and applicability in thin (∼0.5-2 mm) vessel walls. To identify possible performance differences among vendors, we quantified differences in measured wave velocities obtained by commercial SWE implementations of various vendors over different imaging depths in a vessel-mimicking phantom. For reference, we measured SWE values in the cylindrical inclusions and homogeneous background of a commercial SWE phantom...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the most prevalent cause of premature death worldwide. It had been suspected for decades that increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) might play a pathogenetic role in the development and progression of hypertension, heart failure (HF) and CVD. The use of microneurographic techniques to directly assess the SNS has allowed this field to advance considerably in recent years. We now have compelling evidence for a key role of sympathetic overactivity in the pathogenesis and progression of hypertension and associated hypertension-mediated organ damage (such as endothelial dysfunction, arterial stiffness and left ventricular hypertrophy), HF (with or without reduced left ventricular ejection fraction)...

Background: Sarcopenia is defined as the loss of muscle mass and strength and low physical performance, and it is closely related to the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Pulse pressure (PP) is a biomarker of arterial stiffness and compliance. Elevated PP levels increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality. Nevertheless, the association between PP and sarcopenia has not yet been clearly established. Methods: Participant data were extracted from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 2014 to 2020...

Cardiovascular calcification is a multifactorial and complex process involving an array of molecular mechanisms eventually leading to calcium deposition within the arterial walls. This process increases arterial stiffness, decreases elasticity, influences shear stress events and is related to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular disease. In numerous in vivo and in vitro models, warfarin therapy has been shown to cause vascular calcification in the arterial wall. However, the exact mechanisms of calcification formation with warfarin remain largely unknown, although several molecular pathways have been identified...

Cardiovascular diseases affect kidney function. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible associations between hemodynamic parameters and change in kidney function in individuals aged 75 years and older. Data on hemodynamics and blood and urine samples were collected at baseline and during one-year visits. Hemodynamics were split into two groups based on median values. Changes in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were investigated between low and high groups for each hemodynamic parameter using analysis of variance...

OBJECTIVES: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is considered a state of chronic low-grade inflammation and activation of the innate immune system, which is regulated by several proinflammatory cytokines and other acute-phase reactants. Arterial stiffness, a dynamic property of the vessels evaluated by the determination of pulse wave velocity (PWV), is increased in diabetic patients and is associated with microvascular and macrovascular complications of diabetes and higher cardiovascular risk. In the present study, we aimed to compare the proinflammatory state and arterial stiffness in diabetic and non-diabetic adolescents, and to characterize the association between these two parameters...

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common cardiac arrhythmia, is associated with adverse CV outcomes. Vascular aging (VA), which is defined as the progressive deterioration of arterial function and structure over a lifetime, is an independent predictor of both AF development and CV events. A timing identification and treatment of early VA has therefore the potential to reduce the risk of AF incidence and related CV events. A network of scientists and clinicians from the COST Action VascAgeNet identified five clinically and methodologically relevant questions regarding the relationship between AF and VA and conducted a narrative review of the literature to find potential answers...

Catheter reaction forces during transcatheter valve replacement (TAVR) may result in injury to the vessel or plaque rupture, triggering distal embolization or thrombosis. In vitro test methods represent the arterial wall using synthetic proxies to determine catheter reaction forces during tracking, but whether they can account for reaction forces within the compliant aortic wall tissue in vivo is unknown. Moreover, the role of plaque inclusions is not well understood. Computational approaches have predicted the impact of TAVR positioning, migration, and leaflet distortion, but have not yet been applied to investigate aortic wall reaction forces and stresses during catheter tracking...

BACKGROUND: Short-term blood pressure variability (BPV) is associated with arterial stiffness in patients with hypertension. Few studies have examined associations between arterial stiffness and digital home BPV over a mid- to long-term time span, irrespective of underlying hypertension. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate if arterial stiffness traits were associated with subsequent mid- to long-term home BPV in the electronic Framingham Heart Study (eFHS)...

AIM: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) increases the risk of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease, and insufficient sleep is prevalent. Emerging evidence suggests a link between sleep and cardiometabolic health, but this has not been examined across the lifespan in individuals with T1D. We aimed to examine associations between sleep and cardiometabolic health in adolescents and adults with T1D in a secondary analysis of data from a 4-week double-blind, random-order, placebo-controlled crossover trial of bromocriptine quick release (BCQR) therapy with a 4-week washout in between conditions...

OBJECTIVES: Familial Mediterranean fever is an autosomal recessive autoinflammatory inherited disease. We aimed to evaluate cardiac involvement in children with familial Mediterranean fever during the attack-free period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The prospective study included 75 familial Mediterranean fever patients during the attack-free period and 50 healthy children. Cardiac evaluation was performed using electrocardiography, 24-hour ambulatory Holter monitoring, and conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography...