DOI: 10.1177/11297298261474550 ISSN: 1129-7298

A study on the utility of velocity vector imaging for assessment of radial artery elastic function in patients with end-stage renal disease

Ge Tong, Yihua Gao, Kuichang Yuan, Jianjun Yang, Dan Li

Objective:

This study aims to assess changes in radial artery elastic function among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) using velocity vector imaging (VVI).

Methods:

A retrospective analysis was conducted on 68 pre-hemodialysis ESRD patients and 30 healthy individuals admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Yanbian University between January 2022 and June 2024. The patients with ESRD were divided into the nondiabetic kidney disease (NDKD) group and the diabetic kidney disease (DKD) group, while the healthy individuals were assigned to the control group (CG). The off-line VVI analysis was performed on the long axis of the radial artery. The following parameters were assessed: peak systolic strain (Ss; %), peak diastolic strain (Sd; %), peak systolic strain rate (SRs; 1/s), and peak diastolic strain rate (SRd; 1/s). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis evaluated the significance of VVI parameters in differentiating DKD.

Results:

The levels of Ss, SRs, Sd, and SRd in the anterior wall and the posterior wall of the radial artery were significantly lower in the DKD group compared to both the CG and NDKD groups ( p  < 0.01). Moreover, there was a decreasing trend in the VVI parameter levels of both the anterior and posterior radial artery among the CG, NDKD, and DKD groups, and these differences were statistically significant ( p trend  < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the area under the curve for the Ss, SRs, Sd, and SRd in the anterior wall and the posterior wall were 0.990, 0.915, 0.896, 0.920, 0.928, 0.849, 0.829, and 0.848, respectively.

Conclusion:

The VVI technique provides a new method for accurately quantifying the elastic function of the radial artery and an important basis for evaluating the therapeutic effect of arterial stiffness, reflecting the disease course, and assessing the vascular conditions before arteriovenous fistula.

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