Mosarla, Ramya2019-12-052018-052019-03-252018Mosarla, Ramya. 2018. Aortic Stiffness: Review of Life Course, Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Relevant Biomarkers. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard Medical School.http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41973537Stiffening of the aorta, as measured by an increase pulse wave velocity has been implicated as a predictor of worsened cardiovascular outcomes and mortality in both general community and high-risk conditions such as diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, post-myocardial infarction and chronic inflammatory disease. In fact, quantification of aortic stiffness by measuring the carotid-femoral PWV was proposed as an accepted ‘gold standard’ to risk-stratify patients in the management of hypertension. It has also been demonstrated to be a valuable independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. This review discusses the life-course, epidemiology, risk factors and biomarkers related to aortic stiffness.application/pdfenAortic Stiffness, arterial stiffnessThesis or Dissertation2019-12-05