Contralateral differences in ankle SBP, PWV up risk of heart failure, death in older adults

A study has shown that contralateral differences in ankle systolic blood pressure (SBP) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) are predictive of increased mortality risk among older adults.

Researchers of this study calculated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) in 5,077 participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study using Cox proportional hazards models.

Some 457 heart failure events, as well as 1,275 all-cause and 363 cardiovascular deaths, occurred over a mean follow-up of 7.5 years.

After adjusting for confounders, interankle SBP difference of at least 10 mm Hg (HR, 1.12, 95 percent CI, 1.00–1.28), at least 15 mm Hg (HR, 1.21, 95 percent CI, 1.03–1.43), contralateral difference in brachial-ankle PWV >240 cm/s (HR, 1.22, 95 percent CI, 1.02–1.45), and heart-ankle PWV >80 cm/s (HR, 1.24, 95 percent CI, 1.04–1.48) each showed independent associations with all-cause mortality.

In addition, contralateral differences in ankle SBP of at least 15 mm Hg (HR, 1.56, 95 percent CI, 1.17–2.09) and heart-ankle PWV >80 cm/s (HR, 1.42, 95 percent CI, 1.03–1.96) independently correlated with cardiovascular death.

In unadjusted analysis, older adults with contralateral differences in ankle SBP of at least 10 and at least 15 mm Hg, brachial-ankle PWV >240 cm/s, and heart-ankle PWV >80 cm/s were at greater risk of heart failure (p<0.05 for all).