Arterial pulse wave velocity and risk factors for peripheral vascular disease

Non-invasive measurement of arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV) is used to diagnose peripheral vascular disease. We examined the relationship between PWV and risk factors related to peripheral vascular disease body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), serum total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), atherogenic index (AI) and blood glucose (GLU)] in 45 healthy male volunteers, aged 25–85 years. The correlation coefficient of PWV with age was r=0.46, and the correlation coefficients of PWV with DBP, AI and GLU were r=0.71, 0.56, and 0.22, respectively (P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that 67% of the variance in PWV could be accounted for by these three variables. The relative contributions of DBP, AI and GLU to PWV were 66%, 26% and 8%, respectively. To test the applicability of PWV for clinical use, a multiple regression equation of PWV derived from these three variables was then applied to male patients with hypertension (n=53), hyperlipidaemia (n=35) or hyperglycaemia (n=39). The results suggest that the multiple regression equation of PWV is an indicator that discriminates between these patient categories and healthy men. Accepted: 8 December 1999