TITLE:
Cardiac index (CI) versus cardio ankle vascular index (CAVI) at different degrees of head-up tilt (HUT) in healthy subjects
AUTHORS:
Akeel A. M. H. Zwain, Riyadh W. Al Esawi, Amina A. B. Al-Dejeli
KEYWORDS:
Cardiac Index; Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index;Atherosclerosis; Head-Up Tilt
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Molecular and Integrative Physiology,
Vol.3 No.2,
May
15,
2013
ABSTRACT: The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) is a new index of arterial stiffness that can be measured with a VaSera VS-1000 device. An association between certain arterial stiffness indices and cardiac function has been found but has not yet been validated. The aim of this study was to establish whether any significant relationship exists between cardiac index (CI) and CAVI. Twenty healthy male volunteers with a mean age of 30 ± 5 years and a mean BMI of 23.1 ± 1.1 kg/m2 participated in the study. CO was estimated using a Doppler technique, and CAVI was measured with a VaSeraVS-1000 device. A motorised tilting table was used to achieve head-up tilt (HUT) angles of 0°, 30°and 60°, to modify the peripheral sympathetic outflow. We found that there was a significant inverse correlation between CI and the degree of head-up tilt, ( for 0°and 30°; for 0° and 60°, p for both; for 30° and 60°, ). CAVI showed a significant positive correlation relative with the degree of HUT, ( for 0° and 30°; for 0° and 60°; for 30° and 60°, for all). A significant negative correlation was found between CI and CAVI r = - 0.47, p Additionally, a significant p increase in PVR values was observed for increasing HUT values. In conclusion: An inverse relationship between CI and CAVI was shown; a decrease in cardiac output is associated with an increase in CAVI values at different degrees of HUT. This association provides further insight into the postural link between cardiac output and arterial compliance.