Comparison of Predictive Ability of Arterial Stiffness Parameters Including Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index, Pulse Wave Velocity and Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index(0)

Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was developed to reflect the stiffness of the arterial tree from the aortic origin to the ankle. This arterial stiffness parameter is useful for assessing the severity of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk. However, compared to pulse wave velocity (PWV), the conventional gold standard of arterial stiffness parameter, there has been a concern regarding CAVI that there are fewer longitudinal studies for CVD. Furthermore, the accuracy of CAVI for atherosclerotic diseases compared to other parameters has not been well validated. This review article aims to summarize recent findings to clarify the predictive ability of CAVI in longitudinal studies. First, several large longitudinal studies have found that not only baseline CAVI but also CAVI changes during the observation period predict cardiovascular events. Second, CAVI may have superior discriminatory power for all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiovascular endpoints compared to PWV. Furthermore, one large longitudinal study found CAVI to be a stronger predictor for renal function decline compared to PWV as well as CAVI(0), a variant of CAVI that mathematically excludes BP dependence. Additionally, CAVI shows the properties that allow the elucidation of specific hemodynamics in aortic valve disease or hypovolemia. In conclusion, CAVI may be a modifiable arterial stiffness parameter not only for predicting and preventing atherosclerotic diseases but also for elucidating specific hemodynamic pathophysiology.