Aortic pulse wave velocity predicts cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged and elderly Japanese men.
BACKGROUND
Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) is widely used as a noninvasive index of arterial stiffness and was used in the present study to investigate the relationship between PWV and cardiovascular mortality in the middle-aged and elderly Japanese population using a longitudinal study design.


RESULTS
From 1988 to 2003, a total of 3,960 men (50-69 years old at baseline) who underwent medical check-ups and measurement of PWV, which was standardized for diastolic blood pressure, were recruited and divided into 4 groups according to the PWV values. The average follow-up period was 8.2 years. Mortality from all-causes and from cardiovascular disease significantly increased as PWV increased in the entire follow-up period. Multivariate-adjusted relative risks of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality for the highest quartile of PWV (>9.0 m/s) were 1.28 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97-1.68) and 1.83 (95%CI 1.02-3.29), respectively, compared with the lowest quartile (<7.5 m/s).


CONCLUSIONS
An increased PWV can predict cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged and elderly Japanese men.
Inoue
Noriko
N
Hiroshima City Medical Association Clinical Laboratory Center, 3-8-6 Senda-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730-8611, Japan. ninoue@gentaikyo.or.jp
Maeda
Ryo
R
Kawakami
Hideshi
H
Shokawa
Tomoki
T
Yamamoto
Hideya
H
Ito
Chikako
C
Sasaki
Hideo
H
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000502:physiology*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D044466:Asian People; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis