title: Prognostic Significance of Regional Arterial Stiffness for Stroke in Hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease. It has been reported that arterial stiffness is related to cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in hypertensive patients and that the physiological evaluation of arterial stiffness may assist clinicians in the early detection of atherosclerosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It has been demonstrated that increased arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease, including stroke. Arterial stiffness is associated with structural changes in the brain. However, the stiffness responses of muscular arteries are different from those of elastic arteries, and so the impact of arterial stiffness and the conclusions to be drawn may be different depending on the region in which the measurement is taken.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this review, we summarize the current literature describing the association between arterial stiffness, including carotid-femoral and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and cardio-ankle vascular index, and cardiovascular disease, specifically stroke. We discuss the utility and prognostic significance of regional arterial stiffness measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and Hypertension, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubozono
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and Hypertension, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohishi
keywords: Arterial stiffness; Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity; Cardio-ankle vascular index; Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity