Pulse wave velocity
Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was assessed using an automatic device (Complior; Artech Medical, Pantin, France) that measures the time delay between the rapid upstroke of the feet of simultaneously recorded pulse waves in the carotid and femoral arteries. PWV was calculated by dividing the distance between the recording sites in the carotid and femoral arteries by the foot-to-foot time delay in meters/second [