Relation of stiffness parameter β to carotid arteriosclerosis and silent cerebral infarction in patients on chronic hemodialysis

Aortic stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV) predicts all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, there is a lack of information on stiffness parameter beta, another index of arterial stiffness, in HD patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of stiffness parameter beta in HD patients. We compared the relation of stiffness parameter beta to carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque score estimated by carotid ultrasound and investigated the relationship between stiffness parameter beta and silent cerebral infarction (SCI) in 64 HD patients. Stiffness parameter beta was positively correlated with mean IMT (r = 0.318, P = 0.0113) and plaque score (r = 0.672, P < 0.0001). Stepwise regression analysis revealed that pulse pressure and age were found to be independent determinants of stiffness parameter beta (partial correlation coefficients: beta = 0.501 and P < 0.0001 for pulse pressure, beta = 0.488 and P < 0.0001 for age). In addition, stiffness parameter beta in patients with SCI (12.2 +/- A 3.9) was significantly higher than those (8.0 +/- A 2.4) in patients without SCI. However, there was no significant difference in mean IMT and plaque score in both groups. These results suggest that arteriosclerosis assessed by stiffness parameter beta is associated with atherosclerotic changes of carotid arteries and with the presence of SCI in HD patients.