Screening for cardiovascular (CV) diseases and assessing the global CV risk of patients are fundamental tasks in primary care. However, the most commonly used assessment systems (SCORE, FRS, PROCAM, QRISK) predict population risk rather than individual risk. By using these available assessment systems, high-risk patients may be misclassified in the category (Van Staa et al., 2014).

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The Arteriograph helps to improve CV risk stratification by providing not only brachial blood pressure but also pulse wave analysis parameters known as independent markers of cardiovascular events. In longitudinal survival studies, the arterial stiffness parameters measured by Arteriograph predicted future cardiovascular events independently of traditional risk factors (Demir et al., 2013).

Several studies have been conducted in cardiology and other specialties using Arteriograph under various clinical conditions. Here are the most relevant findings (Akkus et al., 2013).

In addition to the facts mentioned above, the arteriograph also provides valuable information in cardiological practice. For example, the measured arterial stiffness parameters of the arteriograph are significant predictors of recurrent severe cardiac events (MACE) in patients who have already had a heart attack (MI) (Gaszer et al., 2012; Prskalo et al., 2016; Hilmonenko et al., 2007; Tritakis et al., 2016).

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Previous studies with the Arteriograph have also shown that pulse wave velocity, augmentation index and central systolic blood pressure are closely related to coronary artery disease.

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It is known that there is a significant difference between antihypertensive drugs in terms of their ability to lower central systolic blood pressure and arterial stiffness values. The Arteriograph can be used to monitor the effectiveness of the therapy and to find an ideal, individual treatment strategy for lowering blood pressure (Kahan et al., 2013).

In end-stage renal disease, most patients die not from the kidney disease itself, but from cardiovascular events. Cardiovascular risk assessment is therefore of great importance in nephrology.

A number of studies have demonstrated the prognostic value of aortic PWV for CV morbidity and mortality in ESRD. The Arteriograph has also proven its value in nephrology  (Dhaun et al., 2014; Fodor et al., 2014; Kovács et al., 2014).

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is also a vascular disease. Thus, the measurement of arterial function in diabetes provides important additional information. The high prognostic value of the arteriograph has also been demonstrated in diabetes (Paneni et al., 2003; Lenkey et al., 2014; Krogager et al., 2014).

There is scientific evidence that elevated central systolic blood pressure and increased arterial stiffness measured by arteriography help to identify those patients in whom pre-eclampsia occurs at a later stage of pregnancy (Khalil et al., 2012; Franz et al., 2013; Osman et al., 2013; Cockerill et al., 2015).

Reduced oestrogen production in the ovaries during perimenopause is directly related to reduced NO (nitric oxide) synthesis and the development of endothelial dysfunction. The increased parameters for arterial stiffness can be detected by the arteriographer in the course of the vascular remodeling mentioned above, so that women who require an increased level of medical care can be identified at an early stage (Albu et al., 2013).

Various diseases in the pediatric population (juvenile hypertension, type 1 diabetes, known hypercholesterolemia, intrauterine growth retardation, kidney disease, vasculitis) may affect vascular function and thus indicate early atherosclerosis. The percentile curves of the arterial stiffness parameters were determined with arteriographs and provide important information about the developed vascular damage (Hidvégi et al., 2012; Hidvégi et al., 2015).

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) in athletes is a tragedy that can happen from time to time. In athletes who

are older than 35 years, most SCD events are due to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (Wasfy, et al., 2016).

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The strong relationship between CAD and increased arterial stiffness has been demonstrated. Therefore, the discovery of increased arterial stiffness parameters with the arteriograph in athletes over 35 years of age could help identify those individuals at risk for SCD. In addition, there is data that the atherosclerotic process can begin at a young age. (Strong et al., 1999).

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We therefore have a good reason to extend the scope of arteriograph measurements to younger athletes. The high prognostic value of the Arteriograph has also proven itself in sports medicine (Franzen et al., 2016; Haapala et al., 2017).

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