title: Arterial stiffness as a risk factor for cerebral aneurysm.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A low ankle-brachial index (ABI) is associated with increased mortality and risk of myocardial infarction and stroke in the general population. Arterial stiffness can be assessed non-invasively by the measurement of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV), a simple and reproducible method. Because the importance of ABI and baPWV in the pathogenesis of cerebral aneurysms remains uncertain, we aimed to measure ABI and baPWV in patients with intracranial saccular and dissecting aneurysms to clarify whether these aneurysms are associated with arterial stiffness and atherosclerosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively investigated 78 patients diagnosed with intracranial saccular (n = 66) and dissecting (n = 12) aneurysms. The control group consisted of an age- and gender-matched normal population. We compared the clinical characteristics in patients with intracranial saccular aneurysms and controls, those with intracranial dissecting aneurysms and controls, and those who had cerebral aneurysms with and without subarachnoid hemorrhage. We also compared ABI and baPWV among saccular aneurysm locations and evaluated the correlation between the number of saccular aneurysms and ABI and baPWV.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate logistic regression analysis shows that hypertension and higher baPWV (>1400 cm/s) are significantly associated with saccular aneurysms. Simple regression analysis revealed no correlation between the number of saccular aneurysms and ABI (r = -0.064, P = 0.611), and baPWV (r = 0.007, P = 0.956).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The baPWV was associated with intracranial saccular aneurysms even after adjustment of hypertension and smoking. Assessment of the baPWV may aid the evaluation of the intracranial saccular aneurysm and the development of strategies for screening patients with intracranial saccular aneurysms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, St. Luke's International Hospital, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsukawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shinoda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niimi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D012307:Risk Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
keywords: ankle-brachial index; cerebral aneurysm; pulse wave velocity