Arterial Stiffness is Associated with Intracranial Arterial Stenosis other than Dolichoectasia in the General Population.

Aims: The relationship between central arterial stiffness and aging-related intracranial arteriopathy is not well investigated in the general population. In a population-based study, we investigated arterial stiffness in relation to intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis and intracranial arterial dolichoectasia.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional analysis on 1,123 subjects (aged 56.0±9.3 years, 37.9% men) of the population-based Shunyi study in China. Arterial stiffness was assessed by measuring brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis and intracranial arterial dolichoectasia were evaluated via brain magnetic resonance angiography. Multivariate regression models were constructed to investigate the association between baPWV and intracranial large artery diseases.

Results: Increased baPWV was significantly associated with higher prevalence of intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (odds ratio for the highest quartile of baPWV compared with the lowest quartile, 3.66 [95% confidence interval, 1.57- 8.54]), after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors in multivariate analysis. BaPWV was not associated with the presence of basilar artery dolichoectasia and dilation of basilar artery and internal carotid artery. When the diameters of intracranial arteries were regarded as continuous variables, increased baPWV was inversely related to the internal carotid artery diameter in fully adjusted models (β±SE, -0.083±0.042, p = 0.047).

Conclusions: This population-based study demonstrates that arterial stiffness was more likely associated with intracranial stenotic arteriopathy other than intracranial dilative arteriopathy.