We provide an overview of key physiologic and biophysical principles related to arterial stiffness, the impact of aortic stiffening on target organs, noninvasive methods for the measurement of arterial stiffness, mechanisms leading to aortic stiffening, therapeutic approaches to reduce it, and clinical applications of arterial stiffness measurements.
Editors
Editor-in-Chief
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, MACC
CME Editor
Ragavendra R. Baliga, MD
Authors
Julio A. Chirinos, MD, PHD
CME Information
Target Audience
JACC Journal CME/MOC/ECME is intended for physicians who treat patients with cardiovascular disease.
Important Dates
Date of Release: August 26, 2019
Term of Approval/Date of CME/MOC/ECME Expiration: August 25, 2020
Learner Objectives
After reading this article the reader should be able to:
- Define large artery stiffness and the most important methods for its measurement.
- Explain the importance of large artery stiffness in cardiovascular health and various disease states.
- Discuss the effect of large artery stiffness and pulsatile hemodynamics on left ventricular afterload.
- Describe the effect of large artery stiffness on the microvasculature of target organs, such as the kidney and brain.
- Differentiate between various hemodynamic parameters influenced by large artery stiffness (e.g., pulse wave velocity, reflected wave transit time, pulse pressure, total arterial compliance, characteristic impedance, etc.).
- Apply principles related to arterial stiffness to cardiovascular risk stratification and prevention strategies.
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Requesting AMA PRA Category 1 CME Credit™ and/or MOC, or ECME credit for this Activity
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