Prevalence of Arterial Stiffness Determined By Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Background: Cardiovascular events are the most serious complications for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). There was limited data regarding to the arterial stiffness in these patients.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study aiming to determine the prevalence of arterial stiffness that was evaluated by cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) in patients with polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF). We defined arterial stiffness as mean CAVI of 8.0 or more. We compared the prevalence of arterial stiffness in non-MPN patients with cardiovascular risk by matching age, sex and Thai CV risk score.

Results: A total of 80 patients were enrolled (PV, n=50; ET, n=24; PMF, n=6) with median age of 63.5 years (IQR 50.9 - 76.1). The majority of patients received aspirin (83.8%) or hydroxyurea (81.3%). Seventeen patients (21.3%) had a history of thrombosis. The prevalence of arterial stiffness in patients with MPNs was 63.8%, and among patients with ET, PV, and PMF was 70.8%, 60.0%, 66.7%, respectively (p=0.655). After matching, the prevalence of arterial stiffness was not statistically significant difference when compared to the non-MPN population with cardiovascular risk (65.2% vs 60.9%, P=0.539). Sixty-one of 80 patients (76.3%) with high-risk MPNs defined as age ≥ 60 years or had history of thrombosis had a higher of mean CAVI as compared to those who were low-risk MPNs ( 8.6 ± 1.2 vs 7.6 ± 1.0, P=0.002).

Conclusion: The prevalence of arterial stiffness in patients with MPNs was 63.8% that was comparable to non-MPN patients with cardiovascular risk.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.