Deirdre B. Cassidy1, Stephen J. Gandy2, 3, Patricia Martin4, R Stephen Nicholas2, 3, J Graeme Houston5, 6
1Institute of Cardiovascular Research, Dundee, Angus, United Kingdom; 2NHS Tayside Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee , Angus, United Kingdom; 3NHS Tayside Clinical Radiology , Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Angus, United Kingdom; 4NHS Tayside Clinical Radiology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee , Angus, United Kingdom; 5Institute of Cardiovascular Research, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom; 6NHS Tayside Clinical Radiology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Angus, United Kingdom
Aortic stiffening occurs as a result of the pathophysiological contribution of age and atherosclerosis, and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. This can be characterised by measurement of pulse wave velocity (PWV). PWV can be derived from phase contrast MRA using multiple aortic flow waveforms in combination with intra-arterial distance measurements. In this study, the mean PWV was found to be stable on a scan-to-scan basis in a cohort of healthy volunteers, and was found to increase significantly with age and cardiovascular disease severity i.e. the data are consistent with developing aortic stiffness.