Open AccessDevelopment of a novel index to characterise arterial dynamics using ultrasound imaging
Author(s) -
Joel Ward,
Xinghao Cheng,
Yingyi Xiao,
Pierfrancesco Lapolla,
Anirudh Chandrashekar,
Ashok Handa,
Robin A. Cleveland,
Regent Lee
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0248043
Subject(s) - brachial artery , medicine , abdominal aortic aneurysm , cardiology , biomarker , ultrasound , endothelial dysfunction , artery , peripheral , radiology , aneurysm , blood pressure , biology , biochemistry
Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are associated with systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. We previously reported flow mediated dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery as a predictor of AAA growth. We hence hypothesised that other physical characteristics of the brachial artery correlate with AAA growth. Using a prospectively cohort of AAA patients, we devised a ‘brachial artery relaxation index’ (BARI) and examined its role as a biomarker for AAA growth. However, no correlation between BARI and future aneurysm growth was observed (p = 0.45). Therefore, our investigations did not substantiate the hypothesis that other physical characteristics of the brachial artery predicts AAA growth.