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Evaluation of atherosclerosis‐associated factors and pulse wave velocity for predicting cerebral infarction: a hospital‐based, case–control study in Japan
Author(s) -
Yokokawa H.,
Goto A.,
Watanabe K.,
Yasumura S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
internal medicine journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 1444-0903
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2006.01278.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cerebral infarction , epidemiology , pulse wave velocity , logistic regression , stroke (engine) , odds ratio , prospective cohort study , univariate analysis , incidence (geometry) , infarction , cardiology , multivariate analysis , case control study , blood pressure , myocardial infarction , ischemia , physics , optics , mechanical engineering , engineering
Background: The mortality rate for cerebrovascular diseases is much higher in Japan than in North American and West European countries. The primary aim of this study was to elucidate from an epidemiological perspective, the associations between cerebral infarction and demographic factors, medical history and other clinical measurements including pulse wave velocity, a newly introduced non‐invasive measurement procedure used to assess aortic stiffness. Methods: This was a hospital‐based, matched case–control study in northern Japan where there is a high incidence of cerebrovascular disease. The study group consisted of 92 matched pairs of cerebral infarction patients (cases) and healthy individuals admitted for a thorough health check‐up (controls) at the Southern Tohoku General Hospital in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. A conditional logistic regression model was used in the statistical analysis. Results: In univariate analyses, 14 variables were significantly associated with cerebral infarction, of which four remained significant in the final multivariate model. These were family history of hypertension (odds ratio (OR) = 8.61), cerebrovascular diseases (OR = 13.70), high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol of 40 mg/dL or higher (OR = 0.08), and pulse wave velocity over 1600 cm/s (OR = 2.92). Conclusion: Findings from the study indicate that a high pulse wave velocity, in addition to other traditional risk factors, may be associated with a higher risk of cerebral infarction. Further prospective studies are necessary to evaluate the use of this measure as a predictor of the disease.