Aortic stiffness and impairments in cerebrovascular function in cancer survivorship
Authors: Scheuermann Britton , Hammond Stephen , Parr Shannon , Turpin Vanessa-Rose , Kunkel Olivia , Colburn Trenton , Ade Carl 
Published: May 2023

An established consequence of anti-cancer treatment is increased aortic stiffness, which impairs the aortic damping of cardiac-generated pulsatile pressure and blood flow. These increased pulsations may result in vascular injury in the microcirculation of target end organs like the brain. The aim of the present study was to determine the ramifications of elevated aortic stiffness on cerebral macro- and microvascular pulsatility and autoregulatory function in cancer survivors. We hypothesized that cerebrovascular pulsatility would be enhanced, and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to elevations in arterial CO2 would be impaired, both in the large and small cerebral vessels in patients with a history of cancer and anti-cancer treatment versus healthy age- and sex-matched non-cancer controls. Aortic arch pulse wave velocity (aaPWV), a regional measure of stiffness in the proximal aorta, was calculated from echocardiographic views of the aortic valve and the descending aortic arch. Subjects then breathed room air for 60s followed by ~2 minutes of rebreathing with simultaneous collection of end-tidal pressure of CO2 (PETCO2). Middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (MCAv) was assessed using transcranial doppler. Oxygenated (oxy-[Hb]) and deoxygenated (deoxy-[Hb]) cerebral microvascular hemoglobin concentrations were monitored using two near-infrared spectroscopy probes placed over the prefrontal cortices. Pulsatility was assessed at baseline using Gosling’s Pulsatility Index (PI) for both the microvasculature and MCA. To account for changes in perfusion pressure, MAP was collected via finger plethysmography and cerebrovascular conductance indices were calculated for both oxy-[Hb] (CVCioxy) and MCAv (CVCiMCA). CVR was calculated as the slope of CVCioxy and CVCiMCA over PETCO2 during rebreathing. Six women were recruited (n = 3/group). Age was similar between the healthy non-cancer controls (HC) and patients with a history of cancer and anti-cancer treatment (CS) (31.0 ± 7 vs. 32.7 ± 13 years). Baseline ventilatory (PETCO2), central and cerebral hemodynamics were also similar (all p > 0.05). aaPWV was significantly elevated in CS compared to HC (5.3 ± 0.6 vs. 3.1 ± 1.1 m/s, p = 0.04). Cerebral microcirculation PI in CS was significantly elevated (0.04 ± 0.01 vs. 0.02 ± 0.01, p = 0.02), but MCA PI was not different (p > 0.05). CVR-CVCioxy was impaired in CS (-3.6 ± 2.8 vs. 1.5 ± 0.5 nM·mmHg-1/mmHg, p = 0.03), and CVR-CVCiMCA was similarly reduced (-0.05 ± 0.06 vs. 0.15 ± 0.01 mm/sec·mmHg-1/mmHg, p < 0.01). The increase in MAP during hypercapnia was similar between groups. Consistent with our hypothesis, both CVR-CVCioxy and CVR-CVCiMCA were attenuated in patients with a history of anti-cancer treatment. Additionally, the microvascular pulsatility was greater in CS. This suggests an impaired cerebrovascular function, possibly related to increased transmission of pulsatility into the brain, in the years following cancer diagnoses and treatment.

This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.