Assessment of arterial stiffness in patients with metabolic syndrome in Ecuador: A cross-sectional study.
BACKGROUND
Metabolic syndrome increases cardiovascular risk, and causes damage to the vascular wall. Through this mechanism, it might increase arterial rigidity, leading to further complications and heart strain. The use of a device that measures arterial rigidity can help determine if metabolic syndrome is related to a higher vascular stiffness and changes in estimated arterial age.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study at Luis Vernaza hospital of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Inpatients and outpatients from the Department of Cardiology with a full blood panel and echocardiogram were included. We used the IDF criteria to diagnose metabolic syndrome and measured arterial rigidity parameters in all of them, including augmentation indexes, central blood pressure, pulse wave velocity and arterial age.


RESULTS
95 patients were included for analysis, 44.2% were females and 55.8% were males. Mean age was 61.7 years (±13.1). Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 49.5% of our patients and it was significantly more prevalent in women. We found significant differences in PWV, augmentation indexes, and peripheral and central blood pressure between metabolic and non-metabolic syndrome patients. There was a non-significant relationship between estimated arterial age and metabolic syndrome (p=0.32).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with metabolic syndrome have an increased arterial rigidity. This, added to the high prevalence of the disease we found in our sample, shows the high cardiovascular risk these patients are at. A multidisciplinary approach to management is needed, along with patient collaboration. The introduction of these devices to measure arterial stiffness in developing countries can improve diagnosis and therapy of patients with cardio-metabolic conditions.
Department of Cardiology, Luis Vernaza Hospital, Guayaquil, Ecuador. Electronic address: ca_penaherrera@hotmail.com.
Carlos A
CA
Peñaherrera
Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Ruben
R
Peñaherrera
Department of Cardiology, Luis Vernaza Hospital, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Maria C
MC
Duarte
Department of Cardiology, Luis Vernaza Hospital, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Ernesto
E
Peñaherrera
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004484:Ecuador / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness / Q000502:physiology*
Metabolic cardiovascular syndrome; Metabolic syndrome x; Peripheral vascular diseases; Vascular stiffness