Reproducibility of Regional Pulse Wave Velocity in Healthy Subjects

Background: Pulse wave velocity (PWV), which is inversely related to the distensibility of an arterial wall, offers a simple and potentially useful approach for an evaluation of cardiovascular diseases. In spite of the clinical importance and widespread use of PWV, there exist no standard either for pulse sensors or for system requirements for accurate pulse wave measurement. Objective of this study was to assess the reproducibility of PWV values using a newly developed PWV measurement system in healthy subjects prior to a large-scale clinical study. Methods: System used for the study was the PP-1000 (Hanbyul Meditech Co., Korea), which provides regional PWV values based on the measurements of electrocardiography (ECG), phonocardiography (PCG), and pulse waves from four different sites of arteries (carotid, femoral, radial, and dorsalis pedis) simultaneously. Seventeen healthy male subjects with a mean age of 33 years (ranges 22 to 52 years) without any cardiovascular disease were participated for the experiment. Two observers (observer A and B) performed two consecutive measurements from the same subject in a random order. For an evaluation of system reproducibility, two analyses (within-observer and between-observer) were performed, and expressed in terms of mean difference ${\pm}2SD$, as described by Bland and Altman plots. Results: Mean and SD of PWVs for aorta, arm, and leg were $7.07{\pm}1.48m/sec,\;8.43{\pm}1.14m/sec,\;and\;8.09{\pm}0.98m/sec$ measured from observer A and $6.76{\pm}1.00m/sec,\;7.97{\pm}0.80m/sec,\;and\;\7.97{\pm}0.72m/sec$ from observer B, respectively. Between-observer differences ($mean{\pm}2SD$) for aorta, arm, and leg were $0.14{\pm\}0.62m/sec,\;0.18{\pm\}0.84m/sec,\;and\;0.07{\pm}0.86m/sec$, and the correlation coefficients were high especially 0.93 for aortic PWV. Within-observer differences ($mean{\pm}2SD$) for aorta, arm, and leg were $0.01{\pm}0.26m/sec,\;0.02{\pm}0.26m/sec,\;and\;0.08{\pm}0.32m/sec$ from observer A and $0.01{\pm}0.24m/sec,\;0.04{\pm}0.28m/sec,\;and\;0.01{\pm}0.20m/sec$ from observer B, respectively. All the measurements showed significantly high correlation coefficients ranges from 0.94 to 0.99. Conclusion: PWV measurement system used for the study offers comfortable and simple operation and provides accurate analysis results with high reproducibility. Since the reproducibility of the measurement is critical for the diagnosis in clinical use, it is necessary to provide an accurate algorithm for the detection of additional features such as flow wave, reflection wave, and dicrotic notch from a pulse waveform. This study will be extended for the comparison of PWV values from patients with various vascular risks for clinical application. Data acquired from the study could be used for the determination of the appropriate sample size for further studies relating various types of arteriosclerosis-related vascular disease.