Published Online
on May 2, 2005

A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2005

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Submitted on February 14, 2005
Revised on March 1, 2005

Arterial Elasticity as Part of a Comprehensive Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk and Drug Treatment

Jay N. Cohn^*; Daniel A. Duprez; and Gregory A. Grandits

From the Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cohnx001{at}umn.edu.

Abstract--Early cardiovascular disease can be identified in asymptomatic individuals by noninvasive evaluation of functional and structural abnormalities of the vasculature and heart. These abnomalities are usually a consequence of endothelial dysfunction. A panel of 10 tests, including small and large artery elasticity, has been used as the basis for a screening system that provides a score of 0 to 20 as a guide to the severity of disease. Using that Rasmussen score allows for stratification of patients into low, intermediate, or high risk for progression to cardiovascular morbid events. This comprehensive screening can be performed efficiently in a single room with a single technician. The sensitivity and specificity of this screening system in predicting future cardiovascular events, its superiority to traditional risk factor assessment, and its potential to track the response to therapeutic interventions must be validated in long-term follow-up studies.

Key words: nitric oxide • arterial compliance • exercise blood pressure • carotid thickness • microalbuminuria • retinal vasculature

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