Arterial Pulse Wave Velocity and Heart Rate

To the Editor: The concerns raised by Lantelme et al1 about the relationship between heart rate and pulse wave velocity (PWV) properly apply to the method they employed, not to the conventional method, nor to the long-established relationship between PWV and arterial stiffness. Lantelme et al used Complior, as did the 3 other studies (Lantelme references 8, 15, 17), which appeared to show increasing PWV with increasing heart rate. In Complior, the sensor used to detect the pulse produces a signal, which is related to the derivative of the pressure pulse. A proprietary algorithm is then used to identify the waveform in a proximal and in a peripheral artery, to measure the time difference between the 2 sites, and thereby to calculate pulse wave velocity from the distance between the sites. In the conventional method, PWV is measured from the time delay between the foot (sharp initial systolic upstroke) of the wave at the 2 sites. The theoretical and experimental basis for using PWV as a measure of arterial stiffness was established in the nineteenth century, and the earliest clinical studies were conducted in 1922.2 We are unaware of data similar to those presented by Lantelme, showing any significant relationship between heart rate and PWV using the conventional …