Christina Antza, Ioannis Doundoulakis, Evangelos Akrivos, Stella Stabouli, Katerina Chrysaidou, Dimos Gidaris and Vasilios Kotsis* Pages 1871 - 1877 ( 7 )
Arterial stiffness has been associated with cardiovascular events and correlated with cardiovascular risk factors. In the new guidelines of the European Society of Hypertension, the evaluation of arterial stiffness, and specifically carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (c-f PWV), was taken into account for the detailed screening of the hypertensive population. Despite the importance of arterial stiffness as a target organ damage, the measurement is time-consuming, not practical, needs expensive equipment and experienced staff. For all these reasons, c-f PWV is not recommended for the everyday clinical practice and its current use is restricted for research purposes. The importance of arterial properties in clinical practice and cardiovascular prevention is well known. Hence, the estimation of arterial stiffness and vascular health based on parameters that affect arterial stiffness, but without the use of a machine, is a new promising field. Furthermore, the relationship between age-related MRI abnormalities as well as ultrafast ultrasound with vascular effect gives a new promise for future vascular aging assessment.
Arterial stiffness, early vascular aging, hypertension, EVAAs, MRI, cardiovascular risk.
Hypertension Center, 3rd Department of Medicine, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Hypertension Center, 3rd Department of Medicine, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Hypertension Center, 3rd Department of Medicine, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 1st Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 1st Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 1st Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Hypertension Center, 3rd Department of Medicine, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki