Arterial Stiffness, Pulse Wave Analyses: What Can’t Blood Pressure Tell you in Chronic Kidney Disease

Title:Arterial Stiffness, Pulse Wave Analyses: What Can’t Blood Pressure Tell you in Chronic Kidney Disease

Volume: 8 Issue: 4

Author(s): Antonio Bellasi, Paolo Salvi, Sergio Papagni, Emiliana Ferramosca, Carlo Ratti, Domenico Russo and Biagio Di Iorio

Affiliation:

Keywords: Arterial stiffness, pulse wave velocity, vascular calcification, chronic kidney disease, atherosclerosis

Abstract: Increased arterial stiffness is emerging as a useful marker of cardiovascular damage. A growing body of evidence suggests that the stiffening of the conduit arteries is linearly associated with poor survival in the general population and high-risk population such as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients. Indeed, the loss of the elastic properties of conduit arteries induces an increase in the central pulse pressure and cardiac workload leading to left ventricular hypertrophy and reduced coronary and capillary perfusion. Notably, all these changes are independent of mean blood pressure and other established cardiovascular risk factors.

Though, evidence is still inconclusive, some preliminary data suggest that arterial stiffness and central blood pressure evaluation can be of use for risk stratification and treatment individualization. We herein summarize the current evidence supporting the usefulness of arterial stiffness assessment for CKD patients’ management.

Cite this article as:

Bellasi Antonio, Salvi Paolo, Papagni Sergio, Ferramosca Emiliana, Ratti Carlo, Russo Domenico and Di Iorio Biagio, Arterial Stiffness, Pulse Wave Analyses: What Can’t Blood Pressure Tell you in Chronic Kidney Disease, Current Hypertension Reviews 2012; 8 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1573402111208040244