Pulse Wave Velocity is Increased Among Type II Diabetic Patients Without Clinical Evidence of Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

Background: Diabetic macrovascular complications including coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral vascular diseases are responsible of 80% of the deaths among diabetics. Arterial stiffness measurement using a non invasive maneuver by the assessment of the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV) may be associated with reduced arterial flow in the lower extremities in type II diabetic patients without symptoms or signs of peripheral vascular disease. The study compares PWV in type II diabetic patients with no clinical evidence of overt cardiovascular disease versus healthy non-diabetic subj ects. Methods: The study was conducted on 46 type II diabetic patients with no current or past clinical evidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseaseand 14 healthy non diabetic subjects. Body mass index was calculated, blood pressure was recorded, fasting blood sugar, 2 hours postprandial blood sugar, glycated hemoglobin, serum cholesterol and triglycerides were done. Assessment of PWV using the VASOGUARD APP. Model QVLP841 was carried out. Results: PWV was significantly higher among diabetics (1278.9±517.8) versus normal control (867.9±188.5),p-value 0.001. PWV showed significant positive correlation in bivariate analysis with the duration of diabetes (r 0.458, p 0.001) and HbAl-c (r 0.424,p 0.003). Thecorrelation between PWV and duration of diabetes was confirmed in stepwise multiple regression analysis. Conclusion: PWV is higher among asymptomatic diabetic patients; there is positive correlation between PWV and the duration of diabetes as well as glycated hemoglobin.