Department of Cardiology, Angiology, Haemostaseology and Medical Intensive Care, University Medical Centre Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
European Center for AngioScience (ECAS) and German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) partner site Heidelberg/Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
In Vivo. 2023 Sep-Oct;37(5):2178-2187. doi: 10.21873/invivo.13317.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Vascular age (VA) is an emerging metric in preventive cardiovascular (CV) medicine. VA can be derived from morphological parameters such as carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), or functional parameters such as pulse wave analysis (PWA), which celebrates its 100 birthday. This study aimed to investigate whether the results of both approaches are comparable.
On the occasion of the double 100 anniversary of PWA and the Mannheim Clinic, 100 volunteers underwent a) bilateral CIMT assessment using high-resolution ultrasound and b) oscillometric PWA at the brachial forearm site. The respective VAs were calculated using previously published equations.
Median age of the participants was 53.6 years (range=39.8-62.6 years), and 56% were female. Median CIMT was 632.5 μm (range=548.8-730.0 μm). Median PWA-derived VA was 55.3 years (36.5-70.5 years). Different values were obtained for CIMT-derived VA, depending on the reference cohort used as calculation basis, ranging from median 43.7 (26.2-59.5 years) to median 64.0 years (43.5-82.1 years). In 46% of the participants divergent VAs were found, that is, the calculated age was higher according to one method and lower according to the other. Correlation analysis revealed a strong dependence of VA (both PWA- and CIMT-derived) and chronological age, as well as an increase in CV risk factors and the detection of plaques with age.
Different approaches for estimating VA are not comparable and often produce contradictory results. The current methods and their validity must be critically assessed if they are not standardized.
背景/目的：血管年龄（VA）是预防心血管（CV）医学中的一个新兴指标。VA 可以从形态参数（如颈动脉内膜中层厚度（CIMT））或功能参数（如脉搏波分析（PWA））推导出来，PWA 今年正好庆祝其 100 岁生日。本研究旨在探讨这两种方法的结果是否具有可比性。
在 PWA 和曼海姆诊所双 100 周年之际，100 名志愿者接受了 a）双侧 CIMT 使用高分辨率超声评估和 b）肱动脉前臂部位的振荡式 PWA。分别使用已发表的方程计算各自的 VA。
参与者的中位年龄为 53.6 岁（范围=39.8-62.6 岁），56%为女性。中位 CIMT 为 632.5μm（范围=548.8-730.0μm）。PWA 衍生的 VA 中位值为 55.3 岁（36.5-70.5 岁）。根据作为计算基础的参考队列不同，CIMT 衍生的 VA 值也不同，范围从中位数 43.7（26.2-59.5 岁）到中位数 64.0 岁（43.5-82.1 岁）。在 46%的参与者中发现了不同的 VA，即根据一种方法计算的年龄较高，而根据另一种方法计算的年龄较低。相关性分析显示 VA（PWA 和 CIMT 衍生的）和实际年龄之间存在很强的依赖性，以及随着年龄的增长 CV 风险因素的增加和斑块的检出。
不同的 VA 估算方法不可比，且往往产生矛盾的结果。如果不标准化，当前的方法及其有效性必须进行严格评估。
