What does a high pulse wave velocity mean?
Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness, or the rate at which pressure waves move down the vessel. With age, or due to changes in the arterial wall, these vessels become stiffer and the speed at which the pressure wave moves through the system is increased.
What affects pulse wave velocity?
Introduction. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is one of the most widely used surrogates of arterial stiffness [1]. Previous studies demonstrated that PWV is associated with various factors such as age, gender, salt intake, genetic factors, blood pressure (BP), and heart rate (HR) [2, 3].
Is pulse wave velocity accurate?
With the same imaging parameters, pulse-wave velocity can be measured for 1.4 cm of vessel with 10% accuracy. This shows the potential of this technique for the measurement of truly local pulse-wave velocity.
How is heart related to the pulse wave?
It comes directly from heart to the blood vessel system. As pulse transmitted, reflections will occur at different level of blood vessels. Other conditions such as resistance of blood flow, elastic of vessel wall, and blood viscosity have clear influence on pulse.
What increases pulse wave velocity?
The pulse waves travels through the arteries and its velocity depends of the vessel. PWV increases with the distance from the heart, along with the elastic condition of the arterial wall, which is affected by a variety of factors in the pathological process [22].
What is pulse wave velocity and how was it measured?
Pulse-wave velocity (PWV) is a measurement of arterial stiffness that is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. It can be measured simply and noninvasively by measuring the carotid and femoral pulse pressures and the time delay between the two or by other methods relying on pulse-wave analysis.
How do you find the velocity of a pulse wave?
PWV is most commonly measured as the time it takes a pulse wave to travel from the carotid to the femoral arteries divided by the distance multiplied by 0.8, and is consequently a marker of aortic stiffness.
What is the velocity of blood pulse wave?
Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is the velocity at which the blood pressure pulse propagates through the circulatory system, usually an artery or a combined length of arteries.
What should pulse wave velocity be?
Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is the gold standard method for arterial stiffness quantification; however, in South America, there are few population-based studies. The mean PWV found was 6.84 m/s ± 1.65. PWV increases linearly with aging with a high degree of correlation ( ; ) with low dispersion in younger subjects.
What is a pulse wave velocity test?
The Pulse Wave Velocity assessment is performed using an infrared finger clip probe that measures blood volume changes. The amount of light absorbed is directly proportionate to the volume of blood in the finger. When the heart contracts, it produces a direct wave that travels down to the finger.
What is pulse wave caused by?
The arterial pulse is the wave of rhythmic arterial pressure perceived by palpating an artery. The normal number of pulse beats per minute varies from 60 to 80. The pulse is caused by the sudden increase in blood pressure, ejected by the left ventricle into the aorta and large arteries.
