PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Halit Cinarka
AU  - Servet Kayhan
AU  - Aziz Gumus
AU  - Murtaza Emre Durakoglugil
AU  - Turan Erdogan
AU  - Ibrahim Ezberci
AU  - Asiye Yavuz
AU  - Sevket Ozkaya
AU  - Unal Sahin
TI  - Arterial stiffness measured by carotid femoral pulse wave velocity is associated with disease severity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
AID  - 10.4187/respcare.02621
DP  - 2013 Jul 02
TA  - Respiratory Care
PG  - respcare.02621
4099  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/07/02/respcare.02621.short
4100  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/07/02/respcare.02621.full
AB  - Background and objective: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and increased cardiac mortality. Carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) is a validated measure of arterial stiffness, a wellrecognized predictor of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and offers higher predictive value than classical cardiovascular risk factors. In this study, we investigated the association between COPD and arterial stiffness using cf-PWV as a non-invasive technique. Methods: This clinical study was prospective, observational and cross-sectional. Sixty-two patients with stable COPD and 22 healthy controls were enrolled. Physical examinations, chest x-rays, pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gas analysis and 6 minute walking test were performed on each participant, and cf-PWV was measured via a validated tonometry system. Results: Patients with COPD exhibited increased arterial stiffness as compared to the control subjects. These differences were associated with decreases in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood, and oxygen saturation during the 6 minute walking test. We observed higher cf-PWV values in COPD patients with more severe disease forms as compared to patients with mild and moderate disease forms. According to linear regression analyses, only FEV1 was an independent predictor of cf-PWV in our study population. Conclusion: Our results suggest that cf-PWV, a measure of arterial stiffness, is increased in patients with more severe and advanced COPD as compared to those with mild and moderate forms. Airflow limitation and hypoxemia may induce increased arterial stiffness in COPD patients.