Invasive Validation of Arteriograph Estimates of Central Blood Pressure in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND Central blood pressure (BP) has attracted increasing interest because of a potential superiority over brachial BP in predicting cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Several devices estimating central BP noninvasively are now available. The aim of our study was to determine the validity of the Arteriograph, a brachial cuff-based, oscillometric device, in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS We measured central BP invasively and compared it with the Arteriograph-estimated values in 22 type 2 diabetic patients referred to elective coronary angiography. RESULTS The difference (invasively measured BP minus Arteriograph-estimated BP) in central systolic BP (SBP) was 4.4±8.7mm Hg (P = 0.03). The limits of agreement were ±17.1mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS Compared with invasively measured central SBP, we found a systematic underestimation by the Arteriograph. However, the limits of agreement were similar to the previous Arteriograph validation study and to the invasive validation studies of other brachial cuff-based, oscillometric devices. A limitation in our study was the large number of patients (n = 14 of 36) in which the Arteriograph was unable to analyze the pressure curves. In a research setting, the Arteriograph seems applicable in patients with type 2 diabetes. CLINICAL TRAIL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT01538290