Noninvasive central hemodynamic monitoring in the primary care setting: improving prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases.

Background: Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) has markedly declined since the early 1960s due to medical advances and better management, this condition persists as the most critical and preventable cause of death in the US. For that reason, the identification and application of more sensitive, specific, validated, and noninvasive biomarkers of cardiovascular functioning in the primary care setting for the early identification of CVD risk at the subclinical level are warranted.

Aim: The goal of the present review is twofold: first, to familiarize the primary care practitioner with noninvasive aortic hemodynamic parameters, including how these could be integrated into primary care services and patient management, and second, to propose a model for earlier detection of CVD based on the noninvasive hemodynamic parameters in the primary care setting.

Childhood Obesity: Does it Have Any Effect on Young Arteries?

Prevalence of overweight (OW) and obesity (O) in children and adolescents has been increased in the past three decades. Increased arterial stiffness measuring by aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) might be detected in OW/O children and adolescents. The aim of our study was to compare the arterial function parameters (AFPs), such as PWV; aortic augmentation index (Aix); aortic systolic blood pressure (SBP) and brachial systolic blood pressure (SBP) measured simultaneously in O/OW patients and healthy subjects.

Updated and revised normal values of aortic pulse wave velocity in children and adolescents aged 3-18 years.

Measurement of aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) is recommended for stratifying individual cardiovascular (CV) risk in adults. Diseases in children and adolescents might influence aortic stiffness. It is necessary to exclude overweight (OW), obese (O) subjects, and individuals with increased systolic (SBP) and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) from the population, when creating normal values of PWV in children and adolescents.

Oscillometrically Measured Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity Reveals Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis in a Middle-Aged, Apparently Healthy Population.

Background: Asymptomatic atherosclerosis is a common entity even at young age. Studies have suggested a strong relationship between increased arterial stiffness and asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis (ACA) in general population, particularly in those with high cardiovascular risk, but no data exist from a younger population free from recognized cardiovascular disease. .