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Comparison of the usefulness of the cardio-ankle vascular index and augmentation index as an index of arteriosclerosis in patients with essential hypertension

Hypertension Research volume 45, pages 455–463 (2022)Cite this article

A Comment to this article was published on 27 December 2021

Abstract

Arteriosclerosis leads to various serious diseases that substantially reduce the quality of life. When treating hypertension, it is important to evaluate the degree of arteriosclerosis. In recent years, the cardio-ankle vascular index and augmentation index have been frequently used as indicators of arterial wall sclerosis. However, the superiority of either the cardio-ankle vascular index or the augmentation index as an index of arteriosclerosis remains unclear. Therefore, the present study compared the usefulness of these two indices as an index of arteriosclerosis. Associations between the cardio-ankle vascular index or augmentation index and risk factors for arteriosclerosis and other indices of arteriosclerosis in 535 consecutive patients with essential hypertension were evaluated. The cardio-ankle vascular index was significantly correlated with age, hemoglobin A1c, brain natriuretic peptide, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. In contrast, the augmentation index showed significant correlations only with age, brain natriuretic peptide, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. In addition, these correlations with the augmentation index were generally weaker than those with the cardio-ankle vascular index. The cardio-ankle vascular index, but not the augmentation index, was significantly correlated with flow-mediated dilation, an index of vascular endothelial function, and carotid intima-media thickness, an index of carotid atherosclerosis. Similar results were observed in subgroups stratified by sex and age. These data indicate that the cardio-ankle vascular index is more closely associated with risk factors for arteriosclerosis and other indices of arteriosclerosis than the augmentation index, suggesting that the cardio-ankle vascular index may be superior to the augmentation index as an index of arteriosclerosis.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

Funding

This work was supported in part by grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (19 K 08497 to S. M.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology and Hypertension, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuya Ishida, Satoshi Morimoto, Sayuri Horiuchi, Miwa Kimura, Toru Ishikawa, Shihori Kimura, Kaoru Yamashita, Noriyoshi Takano, Yasufumi Seki, Kanako Bokuda, Nobukazu Sasaki, Daisuke Watanabe & Atsuhiro Ichihara

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  1. Kazuya Ishida
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Correspondence to Satoshi Morimoto.

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Ishida, K., Morimoto, S., Horiuchi, S. et al. Comparison of the usefulness of the cardio-ankle vascular index and augmentation index as an index of arteriosclerosis in patients with essential hypertension. Hypertens Res 45, 455–463 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-021-00823-x

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