Sex specific difference in the relation between birth weight and arterial compliance in young adults: The Young Hearts Project

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Abstract
Subjects were recruited from 1015 randomly selected children who participated in a survey of cardiovascular risk factors performed in Northern Ireland in 1989 (the Young Hearts cohort). All subjects were invited to attend further screening between 1997 and 1999, when aged 21 to 25 years (the Young Hearts 3 survey). Altogether 489 (48.2%) of the original subjects attended (251 men, 238 women). Clinical and questionnaire data were collected on a large number of cardiovascular risk factors. The screening procedure included measurement of blood pressure (Hawksley Random Zero Sphygomanometer) and pulse wave velocity (the speed of propagation of the systolic pressure wave along the length of an artery) in three arterial segments (aorto-iliac, aorto-radial, aorto-dorsalis pedis) by a non-invasive optical method.2 Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is inversely proportional to arterial compliance. Data on PWV for all three segments were available for 456 subjects (93%, 228 men, 228 women). Recorded birth data, including weight and gestational age, were obtained from computerised birth records held by the Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety (Northern Ireland).