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Circulation. 2005;112:1486-1493
Published online before print August 29, 2005, doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.104.502161
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(Circulation. 2005;112:1486-1493.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.


Vascular Medicine

Risk Factors Identified in Childhood and Decreased Carotid Artery Elasticity in Adulthood

The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

Markus Juonala, MD, PhD; Mikko J. Järvisalo, MD, PhD; Noora Mäki-Torkko, BM; Mika Kähönen, MD, PhD; Jorma S.A. Viikari, MD, PhD; Olli T. Raitakari, MD, PhD

From the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine (M.J., M.J.J., N.M.-T.) and the Departments of Clinical Physiology (M.J.J., O.T.R.) and Medicine (J.S.A.V.), University of Turku, Turku, Finland; and the Department of Clinical Physiology (M.K.), University of Tampere, Finland.

Correspondence to Dr Olli T. Raitakari, Department of Clinical Physiology, PO Box 52, 20521 Turku, Finland. E-mail olli.raitakari{at}utu.fi

Received August 23, 2004; revision received May 2, 2005; accepted May 25, 2005.

Background— Exposure to risk factors in childhood may have long-term influences on vascular function. We examined the relationship between risk factors identified in childhood and arterial elasticity assessed in adulthood.

Methods and Results— Carotid artery compliance (CAC), Young’s elastic modulus (YEM), and stiffness index (SI), 3 measures of large-artery elasticity, were assessed with noninvasive ultrasound in 2255 healthy white adults aged 24 to 39 years participating in a population-based cohort study and who had risk factor data available since childhood. In multivariate models, childhood obesity (skinfold thickness) predicted decreased CAC (P<0.001), increased YEM (P<0.01), and increased SI (P<0.01) in adulthood. Childhood blood pressure was inversely associated with CAC (P<0.001) and directly associated with YEM (P<0.001). The number of risk factors identified in childhood, which included high LDL cholesterol (at or above 80th percentile), elevated blood pressure, skinfold thickness, low HDL cholesterol (at or below 20th percentile), and smoking, was related inversely with CAC (P<0.001) and directly with YEM (P<0.001). These associations remained highly significant after adjustment for the number of risk factors identified in adulthood (P=0.005 for CAC and P<0.001 for YEM).

Conclusions— Cardiovascular risk factors identified in childhood and adolescence predict decreased carotid artery elasticity in adulthood. These data suggest that risk factors operating in early life may have sustained deleterious effects on arterial elasticity.


Key Words: risk factors • elasticity • obesity • atherosclerosis • epidemiology




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