Simplified pulse wave velocity measurement in children: A validation study of the pOpmètre®

Abstract

Background In populations exposed to cardiovascular risk, aortic stiffness is an important marker assessed by the gold standard carotid-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). In childhood, the aplanation tonometer SphygmoCor® is a validated method, however, it is limited in routine practice by the child s cooperation and operator s experience. The pOpmetre® is a device validated in adults which rapidly measures finger-to-toe PWV using 2 oxymeter-like sensors. Purpose Our objective was to demonstrate the value of the pOpmetre® in children by comparing pOpmetre® to SphygmoCor® PWV measurements. Methods This prospective study enrolled 60 children aged between 4 and 8 years old with a 1 sex ratio from the Nantes University Hospital. Bland and Altman method was used to compare pOpmetre® and SphygmoCor® PWV in a training group and in a validation group. The primary endpoint was reached if the 95% confidence interval (95%CI) of the mean PWV difference was between\xa0−\xa00.450 and\xa0+\xa00.450. Results The mean pOpmetre® PWV (PWVpop) was 3.919\xa0±\xa00.587\xa0m/sec and the mean SphygmoCor® PWV was 4.280\xa0±\xa00.383\xa0m/sec in the training group (n\xa0=\xa026), with a difference of\xa0−\xa00.362 (95%CI:\xa0−\xa00.546–\xa0−\xa00.178). A new algorithm was defined using transit time (TTpop): corrected PWVpop (m/sec)\xa0=\xa00.150/TTpop (sec)\xa0+\xa01.381 * Height (m)\xa0+\xa01.148. It was tested in the validation group (n\xa0=\xa024): the mean corrected PWVpop was 4.231\xa0±\xa00.189\xa0m/sec and the mean SphygmoCor® PWV was 4.208\xa0±\xa00.296\xa0m/sec with a corrected difference of 0.023 (95%CI: −0.086–0.131). Conclusion After algorithm correction, we found a good agreement between PWV measured by the SphygmoCor® and the pOpmetre® which seems more appropriate in young children.