Arterial Stiffness Assessed By Pulse Wave Velocity as a Predictor of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Cancer Patients
D. Dinakar Reddy, Jagadamba Aswathappa, Abhay K. KattepurBackground:
Cancer patients are at increased risk of coronary artery disease. Vascular dysfunction is first reflected as arterial stiffness, which can be assessed by pulse wave velocity (PWV).
Aim:
This study aims to appraise whether PWV is a clinical indicator of arterial stiffness.
Materials and Methods:
A case-control observational study was undertaken in a tertiary teaching hospital among 589 participants, including 197 cancer patients undergoing treatment and 392 age-matched controls. Arterial stiffness and hemodynamic parameters were measured noninvasively using the Diabetes Risk Profiler system based on PeriScope ® technology. Statistical analysis included comparison of means, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression.
Results:
Cancer patients showed significantly higher heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, brachial-ankle PWV, carotid-femoral PWV, aortic pulse pressure, augmentation pressure, and augmentation index than controls, while ankle-brachial index was significantly lower (all
Conclusion:
Cancer patients undergoing treatment have markedly increased arterial stiffness and altered vascular function compared with controls. PWV may be a useful, simple, and noninvasive marker for early cardiovascular risk assessment in cardio-oncology practice.