Arterial stiffening: Causes and consequences

DOI

10.1016/j.artres.2012.09.001How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Aortic stiffness; Pulse pressure; Atherosclerosis; Aortic imaging; Heritability; Aortic calcification; Haemodynamics

Abstract

Increased arterial stiffness, as measured by pulse wave velocity, is increasingly recognised as an important predictor of future cardiovascular events. At present, the mechanisms leading to stiffening of large arteries and the processes underlying the association between arterial stiffness and cardiovascular disease remain unclear. One suggestion is that stiffening may be a caused by atherosclerosis along the aorta, explaining its association with cardiovascular disease. However, age-related stiffening of large arteries can occur independently of atherosclerosis and development of atherosclerosis does not necessarily contribute to increased aortic stiffness. Vascular calcification, extracellular matrix degradation and inflammation are likely to contribute to arterial stiffening. One consequence of increased large artery stiffness is an increase in pulse pressure, which, in older subjects, is the blood pressure components most closely correlated with cardiovascular events. The association between arterial stiffness and cardiovascular events may be explained, at least in part, by the adverse haemodynamic consequences of increased stiffness. This review summarises the potential mechanisms of arterial stiffening and its haemodynamic consequences.

Copyright

© 2012 Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.

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TY  - JOUR
AU  - Marina Cecelja
AU  - Phil Chowienczyk
PY  - 2012
DA  - 2012/09/22
TI  - Arterial stiffening: Causes and consequences
JO  - Artery Research
SP  - 22
EP  - 27
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
SN  - 1876-4401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2012.09.001
DO  - 10.1016/j.artres.2012.09.001
ID  - Cecelja2012
ER  -