Association between Brachial-Ankle Arterial Stiffness and Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Load in Patients with Acute NonCardioembolic Ischemic Stroke

The arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV), a known independent predictor of cardiovascular disease, is widely used in clinical settings to determine changes in blood vessels caused by atherosclerosis. 1,2 PWV increases as arteriosclerosis worsens, and increased arterial stiffness exacerbates vascular damage and atherosclerosis. 3,4 It mainly affects the small vessels of the end organ.The brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), most commonly used for its simple and reproducible measurements,reflects thecentral and peripheral arterial stiffness. 2