Abstract TP159: Correlation Between Arterial Stiffness And The Severity Of Acute Cerebral Infarction

Abstract

Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease and stroke and can be evaluated by measuring pulse wave velocity(PWV) between 2 sites in the arterial tree, with a higher PWV indicating stiffer arteries. Recent studies have demonstrated that arterial stiffness is associated with intracranial large artery disease and the severity of cerebral small vessel disease. The aim of this study is to clarify whether pulse wave velocity value predict initial severity of acute ischemic stroke. We enrolled consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke. Demographic factors, laboratory data, brain imaging, neurological exam and arterial stiffness measured by brachial ankle PWV (baPWV) were evaluated on admission in all subjects. The subtype of acute ischemic stroke was classified according to the TOAST classification. All patients were categorized into two groups based on the initial severity of stroke, indicated by modified Rankin Scale(mRS). Severe group was defined as a mRS ≥ 3 at admission. Unpaired student’s t-test or Mann-whitney U-test were used to compare maximal and meanbaPWV values between two groups. We enrolled 78 patients. According to the TOAST classification, the etiology of stroke was large artery disease (LAD) in 34 patients, small vessel disease (SVD) in 23 patients, and other subtypes in 12 patients. There were 28 patients with good outcome and 41 patients with poor outcome. The maximal and mean baPWV values were significantly increased in inpatients with high mRS score (2120.17± 527.75, 1999.21 ± 437.46) compared with those with low mRS score (1751.96 ± 363.49, 1723.14 ± 353.02)(p=0.001, p=0.007). In patients with SVD subtype, there was significant difference in maximal and mean baPWVvalues between two groups (p=0.030, p=0.047), whereas there was no significant difference in baPWV in patients with LAD subtype (p=0.141, p=0.172). The main finding of our study is that arterial stiffness indicated by baPWV is associated with the initial severity of acute ischemic stroke. Because initial stroke severity is strongly associated with functional outcome of stroke, this findings suggest that measurement of baPWV may predict long-term outcome in patients with stroke especially in those with TOAST classification confirmed as SVD.