| Abstract: | Background: Arterial stiffness has recently been proposed as a powerful independent predictor of cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to establish the relationship between aortic stiffness and circulatory complications during gastrointestinal endoscopy using pulse wave velocity (PWV) as a parameter. Methods: We serially monitored standard 12‐lead ECGs, blood pressure, and percutaneous arterial oxygen saturation during gastrointestinal endoscopy, and performed a spectral analysis of heart rate variability and an analysis of QT dispersion. We also performed a logistic multivariate analysis of the severity of atherosclerosis and changes in the circulatory kinetics using PWV. Results: In the elderly group (older than 65 years), the rate of decrease in parasympathetic nervous activity and rate of change in blood pressure and QT dispersion were significantly larger than those in the non‐elderly group (younger than 65 years) (P < 0.05). However, a multivariate analysis showed that the relative risk for the grade of atherosclerosis was greater in an evaluation by PWV than by age. Conclusions: We conclude that the grade of atherosclerosis, as evaluated from PWV, is a stronger predictive factor for changes in circulatory kinetics during gastrointestinal endoscopy than age. PWV screening may facilitate the prevention of cardiac accidents during gastrointestinal endoscopy to some degree. |
