Background: Adamantiades-Behçet's disease (ABD) is characterized by systemic vasculitis. We investigated whether aortic distensibility and arterial wave reflections are linked to left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction in ABD.
Methods and results: Eighty-two patients and 40 controls with similar atherosclerotic risk factors were examined by applanation tonometry of the radial artery (SphygmoCor) and echocardiography. Augmentation index (AI%) and arrival time (Deltat, ms) of reflected arterial waves as well as aortic distensibility (AoD) assessed by echocardiography were estimated. Doppler diastolic abnormalities were defined as proposed by the European Study Group on Diastolic Heart Failure by measurement of E/A ratio, isovolumic relaxation time, deceleration time, and flow propagation velocity. Patients had impaired central augmentation index (CAI), Deltat, and AoD compared with controls (P > .05). After adjusting for age, atherosclerotic risk factors, left ventricular mass, and medication the odds-ratio of AoD and CAI for left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was 0.664 (95%CI 0.449-0.982), P = .04, and 1.073 (95% CI 1.014-1.140), P = .001, respectively. The addition of CAI to the multivariable model including AoD significantly increased the power of the model for prediction of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (-2 Log likelihood change = 18.8, P for change > .01).
Conclusion: Augmentation index has a complementary value to aortic distensibility in the assessment of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in ABD.