Is vascular stiffness associated with the diameter of the abdominal aorta?

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between abdominal aortic diameter, arterial compliance and the traditional cardiovascular risk factors in a group of healthy elderly subjects. In this study we have described the relationships between abdominal aortic diameter and the most important cardiovascular risk factors, showing that arterial compliance plays an important role in explaining, and potentially determining the diameter of the abdominal aorta and may thus be a new index to early recognize people at higher risk of AAA.