Arterial stiffness and left ventricular structure assessed by cardiac computed tomography in a multiethnic population

Abstract

BackgroundArterial stiffness expressed by cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) is a marker of arteriosclerosis. It can increase vascular load, which in turn may affect the viscoelastic myocardial properties and the left ventricular compliance. In the present study, we sought to investigate the association between CAVI and left ventricular structure assessed by cardiac computed tomography (CT) in a multiethnic adult cohort.MethodsCAVI was measured using the vascular screening system VaSera VS-1500 AU (Fukuda Denshi, Japan). The average of right and left CAVI values was utilized for the analysis. Left ventricular mass and volume were computed on mid-diastolic cardiac CTA images and indexed to body surface area (BSA) to obtain left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and left ventricular volume index (LVVI). The association between CAVI, LVMI and LVVI was assessed by multiple linear regression analysis.ResultsThe study cohort was composed of 255 individuals (mean age 56.2-±-13.4, 66% men). An abnormal CAVI value was defined as at least 8. One hundred and seventy-one individuals had CAVI values at least 8: They were older (P-