SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Using an automatic wave form analyzer, the heart-femoral (hf) and brachial-ankle (ba) PWVs were simultaneously measured in 327 subjects (men:women 195:132 and age 49.7±7.5 years) without clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, diabetes or systemic disease. The Framingham (FRS) and the SCORE (SRS) risk scores were obtained.

RESULTS: The FRS and SRS were both significantly correlated with hfPWV and baPWV (r=0.412 and 0.398 and r=0.554 and 0.603, respectively, p<0.001 for all results). Both PWVs differed significantly between risk categories (<10, 10-20 and >20%) and (<5 and > or =5%) by the FRS and SRS, respectively. A logistical regression analysis demonstrated that an hfPWV >920 cm/s or baPWV >1 400cm/s was an independent variable for the discrimination of a more than moderate risk (> or =1 0%) stratification by the FRS. An hfPWV >975cm/s or baPWV >1 600cm/s was an independent variable for the discrimination of a high risk (> or =5%) stratification by the SRS.

CONCLUSION: Both PWVs correlated significantly with the FRS and SRS, but their correlation coefficients were not high. The simply measured baPWV may be useful in stratifying cardiovascular risk, which is comparable to hfPWV.