INAPPROPRIATE PULSE WAVE VELOCITY TO BLOOD PRESSURE LEVEL: DEFINITION AND CLINICAL DETERMINANTS

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to quantify the proportion of population with inappropriate arterial stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV) and BP level including its associated characteristics. Design and method: This observational monocentric cohort study utilised data from Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou (HEGP), Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP) that includes 5,186 (57.2% male, mean age 53 years) participants. 1,203 participants had a second PWV measurement. Residuals from log-transformed piecewise regression model for PWV prediction based on mean BP values were employed to define participants with inappropriate PWV. A multinomial regression analysis was conducted to find the associated clinical characteristics. Results: There are 522 participants with inappropriately high PWV and 517 participants with inappropriately low PWV, defined as 10th and 90th percentile of residuals. In the multinomial analysis, younger age, higher body mass index (BMI), and presence of diabetes mellitus (DM) are associated with inappropriately high PWV group. In participants with follow-up visit (n = 1,203), we found that classification into groups of inappropriate PWV was consistent, with 78% concordance. Conclusions: This study generates a classification method to define inappropriate HMOD compared to BP levels. Screening especially of younger patients for HMOD irrespective of their BP level may lead to early detection of organ damage and identifications of patients for targeted preventive strategies.