Development of a new device to measure arterial stiffness and its reliability, and its potential to detect history of cardiovascular events in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Atherosclerosis, which leads to cardiovascular disease (CVD), can progress without any symptoms. To prevent CVD, it is important to detect atherosclerotic lesions early and assess their severity. Atherosclerosis evaluation for primary prevention is a preferable non-invasive diagnostic tool. In this study, a new device was developed to measure arterial stiffness. This new device measures the pressure-volume relationship during avascularization and the upper arm release process, similar to an automatic blood pressure monitor. The proportionality coefficient between pressure and volume was calculated from this curve; the larger the proportionality coefficient, the greater the arterial stiffness. Using this device, the arterial stiffness index (ASI), standard arteriosclerosis indices, cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI), and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were measured in 97 patients with chronic kidney disease and investigated the associations between ASI and these arteriosclerosis indices, as well as CVD history. A positive correlation was observed between ASI and PWV (P = 0.04); however, ABI and CAVI showed no correlation with ASI when analyzed using multiple regression, adjusting for age, sex, smoking, diastolic pressure, and serum creatinine. Furthermore, ASI was related to CVD history by an odds ratio of 1.03 (95% CI, 1.01-1.06) using logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, smoking, and diastolic pressure, whereas CAVI, PWV, and ABI showed no relation to CVD history. ASI measured by our device is easier to measure than indices by devices in everyday use and was the only index to identify actual atherosclerotic disease events.