Aortic, common carotid and external iliac artery arterial wall stiffness parameters in horses: Inter-day and inter-observer and intra-observer measurement variability.
Authors: Vera L, De Clercq D, Paulussen E, Van Steenkiste G, Decloedt A, Chiers K, van Loon G
Journal: Equine veterinary journal
Summary
# Editorial Summary Arterial wall stiffness assessment is well established in human cardiovascular medicine but lacks standardised measurement protocols in equine practice. Vera and colleagues investigated the reproducibility of ultrasonographic arterial wall stiffness parameters derived from the aorta, carotid and external iliac arteries in 10 healthy Warmblood horses, collecting B-mode, M-mode and Doppler ultrasound data across two separate days and analysing inter-observer, intra-observer and inter-day variability using coefficient of variation (CV). Whilst direct measurements of arterial diameter and lumen area demonstrated low variability (good reproducibility), locally derived stiffness parameters showed moderate to high CV, whereas regionally calculated stiffness parameters—such as pulse wave velocity across multiple vessels—exhibited low CV comparable to the primary measurements. For practitioners considering vascular assessment in clinical follow-up cases, these findings suggest that regional arterial stiffness parameters warrant further investigation as potentially reliable markers of vascular health, whereas local parameters may be better suited to population-level research where individual measurement variation becomes less significant. Future work with larger cohorts is needed to establish reference values and optimise ultrasound acquisition protocols for consistent clinical application.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Regional (rather than local) arterial wall stiffness parameters are the reliable choice if you're using ultrasound to track vascular changes in individual horses over time
- •Diameter and area measurements themselves are reproducible and trustworthy when measuring vessels like the aorta and carotid arteries—good news for basic morphological assessment
- •Local stiffness parameters may be useful for comparing groups of horses but should not be relied upon for monitoring individual cases due to high measurement variability
Key Findings
- •Arterial diameter and lumen area measurements showed low coefficient of variation (CV) across inter-day, inter-observer, and intra-observer assessments using B- and M-mode ultrasonography
- •Local arterial wall stiffness parameters demonstrated moderate to high CV, limiting their reliability for follow-up studies
- •Regional arterial wall stiffness parameters showed low CV, making them suitable for both follow-up and population studies
- •Reproducibility of ultrasonographic arterial measurements in horses varies significantly depending on whether local or regional parameters are used