The significance of pulse wave velocity (PWV) was investigated in relation to the clinical findings showing arteriosclerosis (aortic calcification diagnosed by chest X-ray, ischemic change of ECG and cerebral infarction diagnosed by computor tomography), and clinical data in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Prevalence of aortic calcification was increased in proportion to the increase in PWV value. A marked increase in prevalence (78.8-100%) of aortic calcification was noted when PWV values were over 9m/sec. However, prevalence of ECG abnormality was about 30% when PWV values were over 9m/sec. PWV value in patients with aortic calcification was significantly higher than that in patients with cerebral infarction. Therefore, PWV value was most significantly correlated with aortic calcification among these arteriosclerotic findings. The above findings indicated that PWV measurement (noninvasive method) is useful as one of the indices for evaluation of arteriosclerosis.
Mean values of PWV gradually increased in normals as age advanced. Moreover, PWV values in patients with diabetes mellitus were greater than those in age matched controls. The longer the duration, the higher the PWV values. PWV values were higher in poor controled patients than those in good controled patients. PWV values were higher in patients with hypercholesterolemia than those with normocholesterolemia.
These data suggest that blood glucose control, duration of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia could be risk factors for arteriosclerosis.