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Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) has been accepted as the gold standard for arterial stiffness measurement. However, PWV depends on blood pressure (BP). To eliminate the BP dependency of PWV, the cardio–ankle vascular index (CAVI) was developed. This study aimed to define the relationship between CAVI and aortic atherosclerosis or structure on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Patients with (n = 49) or without (n = 49) coronary artery disease were studied. The lumen and vessel diameters and wall thickness were calculated from the cross-sectional area at the pulmonary bifurcation level by 64-slice MDCT. The CAVI was measured within 3 days before MDCT. Multivariate analysis showed that the vessel diameter of the ascending and descending aorta on MDCT depends on age, body surface area, and diastolic BP. The CAVI significantly correlated with the vessel diameter (r = .453) and wall thickness (r = .387) of the thoracic descending aorta (P < .001, respectively). The CAVI was an independent predictor of the descending aortic wall thickness on multiple stepwise regression analysis. These data suggest that CAVI, a simple index, is useful for evaluating thoracic aortic atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) is an arterial stiffness index based on the stiffness parameter β, which is essentially independent of blood pressure. The objective of this study was to determine whether CAVI correlates with the regional stiffness parameter β and pulse wave velocity (PWV) in the thoracic aorta calculated from ECG-gated multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT). Methods and results: Forty-nine patients who underwent coronary MDCT for suspicious coronary artery disease were recruited. The largest and smallest vessel luminal cross-sectional areas of the thoracic aorta were measured from MDCT images to calculate PWV and stiffness parameter β of the ascending and descending aorta. CAVI was also measured by VaSera VS-1000. In univariate analysis, CAVI significantly correlated with regional stiffness parameter β and PWV, which was influenced by the inevitable part of the aging process in the ascending (r = 0.485, P < 0.001; r = 0.483, P < 0.001) and descending aortas (r = 0.304, P = 0.034; r = 0.327, P = 0.022), respectively. The regional stiffness parameter β did not correlate with systolic blood pressure (SBP), although the PWV correlated with SBP. In multivariate analysis, CAVI independently correlated with the stiffness parameter β, but not with the PWV. Conclusion: These data suggest that CAVI, which correlated with stiffness parameter β in the thoracic aorta, has a potential role in evaluating integrated arterial stiffness including that of the central aorta. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]