"VASCULAR AGE" AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
Authors:   Irkutsk State Medical University Health Ministry of Russian Federation Russian Federation, Goma Tatiana Vladimirovna , Tsyrenova Anna Alekseevna ,   Irkutsk State Medical University Health Ministry of Russian Federation Russian Federation
Published: October 2023

Introduction: The term "vascular age" (VA) was developed to motivate and increase patients' commitment to a healthy lifestyle. This assessment can significantly help in communication between the doctor and the patient. CO is the age of a person who has the same probability of death from cardiovascular diseases as the patient, only without modifiable risk factors. CV can be determined using instrumental methods or risk can be calculated using the modified SCORE scale, the latter method is currently limited due to the modification of the SCORE2 and SCORE-OP scales. The aim of our study was to assess the vascular age in patients with arterial hypertension (AH) using the method of volumetric sphygmography and the relationship of vascular aging with the main clinical and laboratory parameters. Materials and methods: 48 patients with AH were examined, including 21 men (44%) and 27 women (56%), the mean age was 66.9 years and 67.3 years, respectively. The duration of the disease was about 10 years. All patients were receiving antihypertensive therapy at the time of the examination. Vascular age was assessed using the volumetric sphygmography method using the BPLab-Vasotens apparatus (LLC Petr Telegin, Russia). This technique is quite simple, non-invasive, does not require the use of expensive equipment and additional specialists. Statistical processing was carried out using the Microsoft Excel package (Microsoft Office 2011) and Statistica 10.0. Results. Our assessment showed that CO in patients with AH was 69.0 years and did not differ statistically from the passport (67.0 years, р˃0.05). The groups of men and women did not differ from each other in terms of the passport age of the patients (р˃0.05). Correlation analysis showed a positive relationship between passport and vascular age (r=0.88, p<0.001). When analyzing hemodynamic parameters, the patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 included patients with CO less than or equal to the passport one (n=22), and group 2 included patients with CO greater than the passport one (n=26). In the first group there were more men (14 - 63.6%), and in the second group there were more women (19 - 73.1%), р=0.1. It was found that the indicators of systolic, mean and pulse BP in group 2 were higher: 117.0 [109.0;133.0] and 137.0 [122.0;146.0] mm Hg (p=0.005), 86.5 [84.0;94.0] and 100.5 [92.0;108.0] mm Hg (p=0.006), 44.5 [38.0;64.0] and 70.5 [48.0;74.0] mm Hg (p=0.01), respectively. The groups did not differ from each other in terms of passport age, body mass index, diastolic BP level, length of service, stage of hypertension, lipid profile, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate, incidence of coronary artery disease, history of stroke (р˃0.05). Conclusion. The assessment of vascular age using volumetric sphygmography is simple and improves communication between the doctor and the patient. Vascular age directly correlates with passport age. In the group of patients whose vascular age was higher than the passport one, an increase in systolic, mean and pulse BP was revealed, compared with the group of patients in whom the CO was less than or equal to the passport one. The absence of statistically significant correlations between CO and other generally recognized risk factors indicates the need for an individualized comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular risk using clinical, laboratory and instrumental data.