THE cardiovascular illnesses are the leading cause of death in the world, estimates the World Health Organization (WHO), which emphasizes that this represents 31% of global mortality. Certain lifestyle habits such asto be active or even to favor a balanced diet can limit the risks. But how can we define the people most at risk of developing this type of disease over the years?
French researchers from Inserm, the University of Lorraine and the Nancy University Hospital have studied a way to identify cardiovascular risk in patients. According to them, measuring arterial stiffness using a clinical tool called CAVI would help predict cardiovascular risk. Their results are published in the journal eBioMedicine.
Arterial stiffness: what is this phenomenon that increases with aging?
“Cardiovascular risk is the probability of occurrence of a cardiovascular disease or accident (diseases of the heart and arteries)”, explain the researchers in a press release. According to them, if cardiovascular risk factors are already well known, such as smoking, diabetes or even a sedentary lifestyle, “preventing what we call cardiovascular risk by identifying the people who are most susceptible to it is a major public health issue.”
To do this, researchers focused on the arterial stiffness. Indeed, as we age, the arteries lose flexibility. According to the researchers, who are based on previous research work, “this loss of flexibility may be accelerated by other factors during aging (e.g. l’hypertension or diabetes)”, In addition, it can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease: what is the CAVI index to measure risk?
To calculate arterial stiffness, the researchers used the CAVI measurement tool, for “Cardio Ankle Vascular Index”. This index is “measured using two cuffs placed around each arm as well as two others at the ankles, thus assessing the stiffness of the femoral artery to the tibial artery”, write the researchers before adding that a microphone is placed at heart level. To read the result, the researchers specify that “the higher the number, the greater the stiffness of the arteries”.
As part of their research, the authors based themselves on a panel of 1,250 people aged over 40 from 18 European countries. The researchers first took a history and then gave them a physical exam. During this time, they measured arterial stiffness using the CAVI measurement tool. Then a follow-up was carried out on the participants between two and five years later.
Measure arterial stiffness using the Cavi index would be “ easy, quick and non-invasive”, according to a researcher
At the end of the follow-up, the researchers noticed that “each one-point increase in the CAVI index, which corresponds to an increase of approximately 10% in arterial stiffness, was associated with a 25% increased risk of a cardiovascular event in the years following the measure”.
Then the researchers tried to establish a threshold of arterial stiffness associated with a higher cardiovascular risk so that it could be recognized and used by health professionals. According to them, “a CAVI index having a value greater than 9.25 was associated with a high cardiovascular risk from the age of 60”.
“Our results suggest that the CAVI index could be an easy, rapid and non-invasive measurement tool for predicting cardiovascular risk, explains in the press release Magnus Bäck, first author of the study before concludingits use could appear in the future among the list of recommended clinical examinations to predict a person’s cardiovascular risk and provide preventive monitoring.
Source :
- Preventing cardiovascular risk using a tool for measuring arterial stiffness – National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm)
