[The comparative analysis of arterial wall thickness and arterial wall stiffness in smoking and non-smoking university students]. / Az érfalvastagság és érfalmerevség összehasonlító vizsgálata dohányzó és nem dohányzó egyetemisták körében.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Our aim was to detect the adverse effects of smoking on arterial wall thickness and arterial wall stiffness in young, healthy university students. QUESTION Does only a few years of smoking result in measurable vascular alterations in healthy young people? METHODS: We measured the intima-media thickness (IMT) on both common carotids by means of carotid ultrasound, then we examined the stiffnessparameters of the blood vessels (pulse wave velocity, PWV; augmentation index, Aix) with the help of arteriograph. SUBJECTS: We recruited 25 smoking and 25 non-smoking young volunteers aged 19-33 for our examinations. Exclusion citeria included any known diseases, abnormally high cholesterol levels, BMI value exceeding 30 kg/m2. Only regular smokers were allowed to participate in the smoking group (at least for six months, minimum five cigarettes a day). RESULTS: In case of smokers morphological, hemodinamic and stiffnessparameters showed significantly higher values compared to non-smokers. Mean bilateral IMT was 0.52 +/- 0.034 mm in case of smokers, while in non-smokers we measured 0.46 +/- 0.036 mm (this difference is significant p<0.01). PWV and heart rate also showed significantly higher values in smoking group (PWV p<0.01; heart rate p<0.05). Unadjusted to age, gender and smoking status there was a significant correlation between IMT and PWV (0.1 mm thicker IMT - 0.6354 m/s faster PWV). Gender differences were found in vascular changes caused by smoking. CONCLUSION: The adverse effects of smoking on arterial wall thickness and arterial wall stiffness can be seen even at a young age, only after a few years of smoking. Both higher IMT and higher PWV sensitively predict vascular damages.