title: Intima-media thickness of carotid artery and aortic pulse wave velocity as determinants of cerebral blood flow velocity.
abstract: The current study aims to check the relationship between parameters derived from brachial blood pressure, the carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV) and mean cerebral blood flow velocity (mCBFV) in the middle cerebral artery (MCA). In consecutive adult outpatients we recorded the brachial systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure (PP), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), PWV and IMT. mCBFV was assessed using Doppler ultrasound probe applied to the transtemporal window. The mean±s.d. age of 165 patients (50% women) was 56.7±11.8 years. Women and men differed significantly in SBP, PP, total cholesterol and mCBFV. Age (r=-0.44, P<0.001) and BMI (r=-0.25, P<0.01) were significantly and reversely related to mCBFV. Compared with healthy individuals, hypertensive (P<0.05) and diabetic (P<0.01) patients had lower mCBFV. IMT and PWV were related to mCBFV (IMT, r=-0.36; P<0.001, and PWV, r=-0.34; P<0.001). After adjustment for possible confounders, the relationship between mCBFV and PWV did not retain statistical significance (P=0.54). However, the relationship between mCBFV and IMT remained statistically significant (P=0.02). The association between lower CBFV and higher IMT may constitute a link between increased IMT and risk of cerebrovascular events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kwater
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gąsowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grodzicki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods; D001916:Brachial Artery; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020768:Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis / Q000379:methods; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers