Reduction in Arterial Stiffness after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Background and objectives: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a worldwide major cause of mortality and morbidity. Arterial stiffness plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of CAD and its complications.  Arterial function may change over time following treatment, but the prognostic value of these changes has not been investigated, especially in Thai population with CAD. The present study was aimed to assess whether the arterial stiffness of patients with CAD is improved after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods: A total of 17 CAD patients (12 males and 5 females, mean age 63±8 years) were studied. All patients were underwent PCI.   Aortic-femoral pulse wave velocity (afPWV), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), and aortic-ankle pulse wave velocity (aaPWV) were measured at baseline before underwent coronary angiography and after treatments for 1-3 years. Blood samples were collected for biochemical assays.

Results: During follow-up, we noticed that afPWV was significantly improved after treatments (p<0.05), whereas baPWV and aaPWV remained unchanged. There were no differences in medication treatments before and after PCI. Interestingly, plasma MDA concentration was significantly reduced after PCI (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a reduction in rigidity of large arteries may have a prognostic predictive value for assessment of therapeutic efficacy in CAD patients with a long treatment background.

Key words: coronary artery disease, arterial stiffness, percutaneous coronary intervention, pulse wave velocity