A. Taquet et al., RELATIONS OF CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS TO AORTIC PULSE-WAVE VELOCITY IN ASYMPTOMATIC MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN, European journal of epidemiology, 9(3), 1993, pp. 298-306
Cross-sectional associations between aortic elasticity assessed by car
otid to femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and cardiovascular risk fact
ors were examined in 429 apparently healthy middle-aged women. PWV was
strongly and positively related to blood pressure and hypertension. W
eak but significant positive associations were also found between PWV
and age, heart rate, some lipids and lipoproteins, blood glucose (eith
er as a continuous or dichotomous variable), body mass index, haematoc
rit, leucocyte count and family history of diabetes. No associations w
ere observed between PWV and high density lipoprotein cholesterol, apo
lipoprotein A1, fibrinogen, cigarette smoking, menopausal status and a
family history of hypertension or myocardial infarction. After adjust
ment for systolic blood pressure, PWV remained significantly related t
o heart rate, leucocyte count, blood glucose (as a dichotomous variabl
e) and a family history of diabetes. Multiple regression analysis show
ed that systolic blood pressure and, to a lesser extent, heart rate, l
eucocyte count and a family history of diabetes were all independent d
eterminants of PWV. This pattern of associations suggests that arteria
l stiffness measured by PWV reflects the sclerotic rather than the ath
erotic component of atherosclerosis. The potential influence of a fami
ly history of diabetes on the elastic properties of the aorta needs to
be ascertained in further studies.