Prevalence of Arterial Stiffness Determined by Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.

Objective

This study investigated the prevalence of arterial stiffness among individuals diagnosed with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), specifically essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF).

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional study at Chiang-Mai University Hospital, Thailand, defining arterial stiffness as a mean cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) ≥8.0. Patients were compared to age-, sex-, and Thai cardiovascular (CV) risk score-matched controls with CV risk factors. Additional outcomes included the 10-year CV risk in MPN patients, estimated by the Thai CV risk score, and the correlation between plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and CAVI.

Results

Eighty participants were included (50 with PV, 24 with ET, 6 with PMF; median age: 63.5 years). Arterial stiffness was present in 63.8% of MPN patients overall, with respective rates for ET, PV, and PMF being 70.8%, 60.0%, and 66.7% (p = 0.655). When compared to matched non-MPN controls with CV risk, prevalence of arterial stiffness did not differ significantly (65.2% vs. 60.9%, p = 0.539). The median estimated 10-year CV risk for patients with MPNs was 13.6% (range 0.7-30.0). No significant association was observed between CRP levels and mean CAVI (R = 0.208, p = 0.073).

Conclusions

Arterial stiffness was detected in 63.8% of individuals with MPNs, a prevalence like that of matched non-MPN patients with CV risk factors.