Usefulness of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity as a predictive marker of multiple coronary artery occlusive disease in Korean type 2 diabetes patients

Multiple coronary artery occlusive disease (multiple CAOD) is the most fatal and frequently observed coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetes patients, but no simple, non-invasive screening tool is available yet. The aim of this study is to evaluate the arterial stiffness in type 2 diabetes patients using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), to demonstrate the correlation between arterial stiffness and multiple CAOD, and to suggest the cutoff point of baPWV for predicting multiple CAOD in Korean type 2 diabetes patients. One hundred and eighty-one diabetes and 262 non-diabetes patients were enrolled in the study. Routine anthropometric and serologic data were collected. baPWV was measured the day before coronary angiography, and the severity of CAOD was assessed with Gensini score after angiography. baPWV and Gensini score were significantly increased in diabetes patients and Gensini score had a positive correlation with baPWV. Subjects in the highest tertile of baPWV showed odds ratio of 3.06 for multiple CAOD compared to the lowest tertile. In ROC curve, baPWV at 1635 cm/s showed 73% sensitivity and 75% specificity with AUC 0.76 in diabetes patients in detecting multiple CAOD. Therefore, baPWV may be utilized a screening tool for predicting multiple CAOD, especially in type 2 diabetes patients.