The effects of enhanced external counterpulsation on arterial elasticity in patients with cerebral ischemic stroke / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objectives To examine the effects of enhanced external counterpulsation on arterial elasticity in stroke patients to provide clinical evidence for secondary prevention of patients with cerebral ischemic stroke. Methods Total 192 patients with ischemic stroke were enrolled and then divided into the EECP (n=107) and control (n=85) group. Auto-matic measurement synchronous atherosclerosis detector was use to measure brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (BaP-WV) and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI). The difference of BaPWV and CAVI were evaluated before, at 36 hours and one month after EECP. Results The BaPWV and CAVI significantly decreased at 36 hours and 1 month after treat-ment in EECP groups compared to either pre-therapy or control groups (all P<0.05). Conclusions EECP can signifi-cantly reduce the BaPWV and CAVI and improve the arterial elasticity in patients with cerebral ischemic stroke. Thus, arterial elasticity may be an important index to evaluate the effects of EECP on cerebral ischemic stroke.