Fonction artérielle et risque cardiovasculaire

The cardiovascular risk evaluated with a follow up of few years, usually 10 years, with the well-known risk equations, permit us to target the patients with the highest risk, who deserve our particular attention. Cardiovascular risk evaluation from the classical equation drawn from Framingham, or SCORE (Systemic coronary risk evaluation) in Europe, remain imperfect as based upon general characteristics of the patients. Evaluation tools given by the large artery investigations allowed us to add information about the risk. This review describes the advantage to take into account pulse pressure, pulse wave velocity as an index of arterial stiffness, carotid artery intima-media thickness, and probably more simplistic from a clinical point of view, the arterial calcifications at least in some special populations specifically exposed.