Clinical Assessment of Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity and Stiffness Index: Hypertriglyceridemia Effects on Arterial Stiffness

Objectives: Being the noninvasive measures of arterial stiffness, both brachial-ankle Pulse Wave Velocity (baPWV) and Stiffness Index (SI) had been used for more than ten years and broadly applied in clinical settings. However, the relationship of the two arterial stiffness measures detected at different sites but defined alike has not been fully investigated into the causes and circumstances. The aim of the present study is to assessment the relationship between baPWV and SI applied to evaluate hypertriglyceridemia (hyperTG) effects on arterial stiffness in clinical settings. Methods: A total of 61 (39 males and 22 females) subjects were subjected to biochemistry parameters measurements. Two kinds of parameters – baPWV and SI were used to evaluate the arterial stiffness. Here, in order to minimize the uncertainty in a comparative study of SI and baPWV, photoplethysmography (PPG) wave train was employed to accurately acquire the most representative pulses for calculation of SI value. Results: BaPWV was significantly correlated with SI (r = 0.60, p < 0.01). The arterial stiffness of hyperTG group has a significance difference compared to normal control group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest both SI and baPWV could be a reliable estimator of arterial stiffness. There exists a significance difference of arterial stiffness among hyperTG group and normal control group. And the use of statistical method could be beneficial in improving effectively the measurement of arterial stiffness.