Use of arterial transfer functions for the derivation of central aortic waveform characteristics in subjects with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Objective: Optimal blood pressure control in subjects with diabetes reduces cardiovascular complications. There is theoretical benefit in the assessment of central aortic waveforms including the augmentation index, which is taken as a putative index of stiffness. Transfer functions may be used to reconstruct aortic from radial pressure waveforms; however, a single generalized transfer function may not be appropriate for all patients. We aimed to evaluate the technique in subjects with diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Simultaneous invasive central aortic and noninvasive radial waveforms were acquired in 19 subjects with type 2 diabetes, and a diabetes-specific transfer function was derived. Similar data were acquired from 38 age- and sex-matched subjects without diabetes. Central waveforms were reconstructed using a generalized transfer function in all patients and the diabetes-specific transfer function in individuals with diabetes.

Results: There was no difference between groups in measured central pressures. The error in generalized transfer function-derived systolic pressure was greater in individuals with diabetes (6 +/- 7 mmHg) (mean +/- SD) than without diabetes (2 +/- 8 mmHg) (P<0.05). Errors in other parameters were no different. The diabetes-specific transfer function reduced the error in derived systolic pressure to 0 +/- 7 mmHg in individuals with diabetes--no different than that with the generalized transfer function in individuals without diabetes. The central augmentation index reconstructed by either transfer function was unrelated to that directly measured.

Conclusions: A generalized transfer function is inappropriate for the derivation of central waveforms in subjects with type 2 diabetes. Errors in subjects with diabetes might be reduced with a diabetes-specific transfer function.