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Central pulse wave velocity in neonates: feasibility and comparison to normative data

Hypertension Research volume 43, pages 1322–1324 (2020)Cite this article

The cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk trajectory arguably begins in utero [1]. Following birth, CVD risk is influenced by genetic and environmental factors [2]. Considering that prenatal care is the sole access to health care for most women, obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) clinics present an important opportunity to track CVD risk trajectories of offspring from birth. To accomplish this goal, we need a measure of CVD risk suitable for clinical practice.

CVD risk can be estimated via arterial stiffness [3]. As a biological marker of vascular aging, arterial stiffness occurs when an artery becomes less compliant and its ability to adequately expand and recoil is compromised [4]. Following systole, forward-traveling pulse waves transmit through conduit vessels and partly reflect along the vasculature at sites of impedance mismatch. With stiffening, the reflected wave prematurely returns to the heart late in systole rather than diastole [4], increasing myocardial burden, and contributing to CVD. Arterial stiffening can occur along the arterial tree, particularly along the aortoiliac pathway, and can be noninvasively estimated via pulse wave velocity (PWV) [4]. PWV is calculated by measuring the transit time for the arterial waveform to pass between two points of a measured distance apart [4]. Carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV) predicts future CVD events [5], and international reference norms have been established for population, age, and risk factor strata [6].

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Funding

NIH Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Womenʼs Health (5K12HD001441).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Patricia Pagan Lassalle & Lee Stoner

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Michelle L. Meyer

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Kim. A. Boggess

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  1. Patricia Pagan Lassalle
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  4. Lee Stoner
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Correspondence to Patricia Pagan Lassalle.

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Lassalle, P.P., Meyer, M.L., Boggess, K.A. et al. Central pulse wave velocity in neonates: feasibility and comparison to normative data. Hypertens Res 43, 1322–1324 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-020-0489-y

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