Dissociation of Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity With Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease Other Than Hypertension

Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a measure of large artery stiffness, is an important predictor of cardiovascular events. This has been attributed to it being an integrative measure of the impact of cardiovascular risk factors on the arterial wall. Pulse wave velocity is strongly associated with age and blood pressure. However, findings with regard to its relation with other risk factors have been inconsistent. We performed a systematic review of cross-sectional published literature reporting independent associations of cfPWV in multivariable regression models. Articles were selected from a PubMed search using a prespecified search strategy. Studies were included if they did the following: (1)…