Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity is a strong predictor for mortality in patients with acute stroke.

Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) has been proposed as a simple, noninvasive method for estimating arterial stiffness. Although high baPWV was predictive of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity among general population, its predictive value for mortality in patients with acute stroke is unknown. We evaluated the prognostic value of baPWV in 1765 patients who had been admitted for acute ischemic stroke and had completed measurement of baPWV during admission. Primary outcomes were all-cause mortality and vascular mortality (death because of heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, or diseases of arteries, arterioles, and capillaries, determined according to the International Classification of Diseases) after stroke. During a mean follow-up period of 3.33±1.57 years, there were 228 all-cause deaths, including 143 vascular deaths. In multivariate Cox hazard regression, patients in the highest tertile of baPWV (>22.63 m/s) were at an increased risk for both all-cause death (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.97; 95% confidence interval, 1.25–3.08) and vascular death (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.33–4.29) compared with the lowest tertile (<17.79 m/s). This study suggested that measurement of baPWV during the acute phase of stroke might be useful in identifying patients at a higher risk for mortality.