Tag: arterial stiffness

Interest in the role of arterial stiffness in the pathomechanism of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction hasgrown in recent years.

Aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) is defined by echocardiography as thickening and calcification of the normal trileaflet aortic valve without obstruction to the left ventricular outflow. The prevalence of AVS has been estimated at the level of 25–30% in patients ≥ 65 years and up to 40% in those ≥ 75 years [1, 2]. Several reports have demonstrated a significant association between AVS and atherosclerosis risk factors or clinical atherosclerosis [3–5]...

Risk algorithms, mostly based on the analysis of the chronological age (CA) and classic cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, have limitations in the precise CV risk assessment of an individual and may cause underestimation of subjects, in whom aggressive modifi cation of CV disease risk factors should be introduced [1, 2]. Therefore, the concept of evaluating the “vascular age” (VA) — that would refl ect the real atherosclerotic damage — has recently drawn a growing attention in the fi eld of the CV risk assessment [3–6]...