title: Echo-tracking assessment of carotid artery stiffness in patients with aortic valve stenosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is little information about mechanical properties of large arteries in patients (pts) with aortic stenosis (AS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Nineteen patients with AS (aortic valve area: 0.88 +/- 0.29 cm(2)) and 24 control subjects without AS but with a similar distribution of risk factors were recruited. beta index, pressure-strain elastic modulus (Ep), arterial compliance (AC), augmentation index (AIx), and local pulse-wave velocity (PWV) were obtained at the level of right common carotid artery (CCA) by a real time echo-tracking system. Time to dominant peak of carotid diameter change waveform, corrected for heart rate (tDPc), and maximum rate of rise of carotid diameter (dD/dt) were measured. Systemic arterial compliance (SAC) was also calculated. Parameters of AS severity (mean gradient, valve area, stroke work loss [SWL]) were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  tDPc was higher in patients with AS than in controls (7.9 +/- 0.6 vs. 6.6 +/- 0.7, P < 0.0001) while dD/dt was lower (5.3 +/- 3.6 mm/s vs. 7.8 +/- 2.8 mm/s, P = 0.01). AIx was significantly higher in AS group (32.5 +/- 13.6% vs. 20.6 +/- 12.2%, P = 0.005) and had a linear correlation both with tDPc (r = 0.63, P < 0.0001) and with dD/dt (r =-0.38, P = 0.01). There was a significant correlation between carotid AC and SAC (r = 0.49, P = 0.03), but only carotid AC was related to SWL (r = 0.51, P = 0.02), while SAC was not (P = 0.26).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AIx was the only parameter of arterial rigidity found to be higher in patients with AS than in controls. Carotid AC showed a significant correlation with SAC and it seemed to be more closely related to AS severity than to SAC.
authors.affiliation: Cardiologia ARC, Azienda Ospedaliera S. Maria degli Angeli, Pordenone, Italy. cardiologia@aopn.fvg.it
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Antonini-Canterin
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roşca
authors.forename: Carmen C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Beladan
authors.forename: Bogdan A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piazza
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leiballi
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ginghină
authors.forename: Gian L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Nicolosi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography