Mitsiou Evdoxia, Vasilios Kotsis, Asterios Karagianis, Vasilios Athyros
Abstract
Arterial stiffness is an early detectable marker of functional and structural changes within the vessel wall. It is also believed to play a major role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular events. A reduction of vessel elasticity results in an increase of Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV). The elastic properties of the vessels are affected by many pathological conditions, such as dyslipidemia, in which arterial stiffness is increased. Statin therapy apart from reducing lipid levels, leads to a decrease in arterial stiffness as well. This could may be result of the multifactorial action these drugs.
Keywords: arterial stiffness, dyslipidemia , Statin , pulse wave velocity (PWV), cardiovascular events