title: Pulse wave velocity in young adults: study of Rio de Janeiro.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulse wave velocity (PWV) can be a marker of cardiovascular impairment, but there are few studies in young adults.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the association between blood pressure (BP), current anthropometric and metabolic variables and those obtained 13 years earlier, in childhood and adolescence, with PWV.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty individuals were followed longitudinally and split into two groups according to the percentile of blood pressure (BP) obtained 13 years earlier: Group 1 (G1): BP percentile < 50 (n = 25, 11M, 26.4 years old) and Group 2 (G2): BP > 95 percentile (n = 35, 19M, 25.4 years old). The individuals underwent clinical evaluation, laboratory analysis and measurements of PWV through the Complior method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  G1 showed higher mean age; G2 showed greater mean weight, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), PWV and blood glucose, and lower mean HDL-cholesterol. SBP, MAP and heart rate (HR) obtained during childhood and adolescence significantly correlated with PWV. Current weight, height, waist-hip ratio, SBP, DBP, pulse pressure (PP), MAP and creatinine presented a positive and significant correlation with PWV. A comparison of the average PWV adjusted for SBP, DBP, SBP and DBP, MAP and PP showed no statistically significant difference between groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The percentile of BP in childhood/adolescence related to arterial distensibility assessed by PWV 13 years later. Changes in PWV can be identified in young individuals suggesting that early vascular impairment may be present in this age group, also related to blood pressure, anthropometric and metabolic variables.
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Oswaldo Luiz
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Pizzi
authors.forename: Andréa Araujo
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Brandão
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pozzan
authors.forename: Maria Eliane Campos
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Magalhães
authors.forename: Elizabete Viana de
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: Ayrton Pires
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Brandão
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000886:Anthropometry; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011674:Pulse; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult