PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Isabelle Vivodtzev
AU  - Clémence Minet
AU  - Renaud Tamisier
AU  - François Arbib
AU  - Jean-Christian Borel
AU  - Jean-Philippe Baguet
AU  - Patrick Lévy
AU  - Jean-Louis Pépin
TI  - Reliability and reproducibility of arterial stiffness by pulse wave velocity (PWV) in stable COPD patients
DP  - 2012 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P3801
VI  - 40
IP  - Suppl 56
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3801.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3801.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40
AB  - Background: Pulse wave velocity, a validated method for assessment of arterial stiffness, is widely used in studies evaluating cardiovascular risk and/or efficacy of new bronchodilators for improving arterial stiffness in COPD patients. However, PWV reproducibility studies are lacking in this population.Methods: 38 stable COPD patients (79% men, 63 ± 8 years; FEV1 = 53 ± 17 % of predicted values) were included. Using the Complior™ device, the carotido-femoral PWV was measured at baseline (d0), after 2 weeks (d15) and 6 weeks (d42). Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficients and between-sessions Interclass Coefficient Correlation (ICC) allowed comparing PWV at d0 vs. d15 (short-term reproducibility) and d42 (middle-term reproducibility). The relationship between PWV and inflammatory status (CRP, TNF and IL6) were also investigated.Results: Mean PWV values were 11.10 ± 1.91, 11.05 ± 2.17 and 11.24 ± 2.25 m/s at d0, d15 and d42, respectively. For short-term reproducibility (d0 vs. d15), Spearman coefficient was r = 0.78, p < 0.0001 and ICC = 0.790 (range 0.632-0.885). For middle-term reproducibility (d0 vs. d42), Pearson coefficient of correlation was r = 0.76, p < 0.0001 and ICC = 0.749 (range 0.567 - 0.861). There was no significant link between PWV and inflammatory markers neither for baseline values nor for between-sessions differences, suggesting that minor changes in inflammatory status did not influence the reproducibility of PWV.Conclusion: Using the Complior™ method, PWV measurements had good reproducibility in stable COPD patients. Such assessment of arterial stiffness can be properly used as objective outcome for randomized trials.