Cardio-ankle Vascular Index as an Alternative Measure for Arterial Health

INTRO: The American Heart Association places measurements of arterial function as a priority for diagnosing cardiovascular health. The Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index (CAVi) is a static measurement, independent of blood pressure, which is an indicator of arterial stiffness; whereas strain-gauge plethysmography measures dynamic arterial function. CAVi may provide an alternative to functional measurements, like strain-gauge plethysmography when testing arterial health. Furthermore, sex or fitness may be important to these measurements of arterial health. PURPOSE: To compare the relationship between CAVi and strain-gauge plethysmography, while addressing fitness and gender. METHODS: CAVi was measured in 40 participants (20 female, 24 ± 0.6 years, BMI 23 ± 0.4) using the VaSera (Fukuda Denshi, Japan) and dynamic arterial function was measured using strain-gauge plethysmography (Hokanson, Bellveiw, WA).  Plethysmographic variables include: late phase (LP) forearm blood flow (FBF), LP area under the curve (AUC), LP forearm vascular conductance (FVC). VO2 Peak was assessed on a cycle ergometer using an incremental test. RESULTS:  Cavi was correlated to LP FBF, LP AUC FBF, and LP FVC (P<0.05). Males maintained significant correlations for the above variables (P<0.05), but females did not. VO 2 Peakwas not correlated with CAVi in males or females. CONCLUSIONS: CAVi, a relatively easy measurement in a clinical setting, could potentially act as an alternate for the more time consuming measurement of plethysmography (which is not a clinical measure); but CAVi may have more relevant meaning among males. CAVi compared to : Total GROUP MALE FEMALE Late Phase FBF **-0.416 *-0.511 -0.204 Late Phase AUC FBF **-0.426 *-0.516 -0.214 Late Phase FVC **-0.458 *-0.539 -0.248 VO 2 Peak 0.154 0.13 0.16  * p <0.05, ** p <0.01 (2-tailed)