Introduction to the Eighth International Workshop on Structure and Function of the Vascular System

摘要

The Eighth International Workshop on Structure and Function of the Vascular System was held in Paris, France, from February 16 through February 18, 2012. In the first editions of this workshop during the 1990s, the focus was on methodologies to assess vascular structure and function in humans, as well as how these changes contribute to cardiovascular risk. We now have well-standardized approaches to assess both large artery and microvascular structure and function. Thus, the focus of the workshop has shifted toward mechanistic studies on how mechanical factors affect arterial remodeling and target-organ damage. In addition, the question of whether pulse wave velocity is an adequate marker for (cardio)vascular disease can now be raised with more experimental evidence to find an answer.During the 3-day symposium, 5 sessions were held. The first dealt with arterial mechanical properties and target-organ damage. In recent years, most therapeutic trials have been focused on their own specific topic, diabetes mellitus or hypertension or hypercholesterolemia. Studies associating several cardiovascular risk factors have been performed only to a limited degree. The most frequent association refers to hypertension and diabetes mellitus type 2. Each of these 2 cardiovascular risk factors increases independently arterial stiffness, but the association has never been specifically investigated in humans. Factors associated with arterial stiffness differ markedly in hypertension (age, blood pressure [BP], and heart rate) and diabetes mellitus (advanced glycation end products and insulin resistance). Michel Safar showed that, for the same mean arterial BP, arterial stiffness is much higher in diabetes mellitus than in hypertension. On the other hand, the risk of stroke is much higher in hypertension and that of coronary heart disease much higher in diabetes mellitus.Nico Westerhof and Michael O'Rourke provided evidence in this workshop that the association of hypertension and diabetes mellitus requires the reduction of arterial …