Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and symptomatic cerebral infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study

Recently a new automatic device that measures brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity using an oscillometric method has been developed. However, the practical significance of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity measurement remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and symptomatic cerebral infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes. One thousand sixty six patients with type 2 diabetes were studied cross-sectionally. Measurements of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity were made using the automatic device. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratio for cerebral infarction. The presence of symptomatic cerebral infarction was confirmed in 86 patients. In these patients brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was found to be significantly higher than in patients without cerebral infarction (18.94 +/-; 4.95 versus 16.46 +/-; 3.62 m/s, p < 0.01). The association between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and cerebral infarction remained significant after adjustment for traditional risk factors. There was an increasing odds ratio for each tertile of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, from the second tertile (odds ratio, 2.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 4.94), to the third (odds ratio, 2.53; 95% confidence interval, 1.09 to 5.86). Overall, we conclude that an increase in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity is associated with symptomatic cerebral infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes.