Associations between cardiovascular risk factors and diseases with aortic pulse wave velocity and aortic distensibility: magnetic resonance imaging in the Hamburg city health study.

BACKGROUND

The role of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)-imaging-based pulse wave velocity (PWV) and aortic distensibility (AD) in population-based cohorts as a risk stratification tool remains unclear. The purpose of this study was the CMR-based quantification of PWV and AD in the context of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) and/or diseases (CVD) in the Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS).

METHODS

The HCHS is a prospective, population-based cohort study. 2D-phase-contrast-flow CMR measurements were performed to quantify PWV and AD in the ascending (AD AoAsc) and descending aorta (AD AoDesc).

RESULTS

The CMR cohort consisted of 2270 participants (41.5% females, median age 66.5 years). PWV was 5.80 [4.91, 7.19] m/s, AD AoAsc 0.54 [0.34, 0.78] [1/(10^3*kPa)], and AD AoDesc 0.61 [0.39, 0.84] [1/(10^3*kPa)] in participants without any CVRF and/or CVD. In participants with at least one CVRF and/or CVD PWV was significantly higher, AD AoAsc and AD AoDesc significantly lower. After adjustment for age and sex, PWV was significantly associated with smoking (OR 1.05), CAD (OR 0.932), and hypertension (OR 1.118); AD AoAsc with hypertension (OR 0.448); and AD AoDesc with hypertension (OR 0.343), BMI > 30 kg/m2 (OR 0.575), CAD (OR 2.17), and history of myocardial infarction (OR 2.413).

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of CVRF and/or CVD is related to significantly higher PWV and lower AD values. However, hypertension is the only CVRF/CVD consistently associated with higher PWV and lower AD after adjustment for age and sex. Our findings do not indicate a predictive value of abnormal PWV and AD values for prevalent CAD and MI.