Effect of Geopungdan and Chunghyuldan Combination Therapy on Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index: Retrospective Chart Review

Backgrounds and objectives: Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index (CAVI) is one of the indicators used for cardiovascular indexes, which are not affected by blood pressure so that it can independently measure the cardiovascular risk. Herbal medicines including Geopungdan and Chunghyuldan are already known as preventive effect of vascular diseases including stroke and arteriosclerosis. In this study, the cases in which patients were measured by CAVI before and after taking these herbal medicines were retrospectively collected.Methods: This is a 13-patient case series from a retrospective chart review of patients with high CAVI (>8.0) who were treated with a combination of Geopungdan 300mg and Chunghyuldan 600mg per day for a month from 1st, January 2019 to 30th, June 2023. Changes of both CAVI before and after the treatment were collected. Also, medical records were reviewed such as general characteristics, disease-related characteristics, social history, treatment-related characteristics and chief complaints of each patient.Results: After taking a combination of Geopungdan and Chunghyuldan for a month, both CAVI was significantly decreased (Left, 9.72±0.28 to 8.90±0.29, p<0.001; Right, 9.87±0.31 to 9.14±0.31, p=0.003). CAVI for the combined left and right also decreased significantly after treatment (9.79±1.04 to 9.02±1.06, p<0.001). The estimated ages of each CAVI after the treatment was also decreased compared to those before the treatment (p=0.004). No adverse effects or sequelae were found.Conclusions: CAVI was significantly decreased in patients who took combination of Geopungdan and Chunghyuldan for a month. This result may infer that combination of Geopungdan and Chunghyuldan may have preventive effects to the patients who have vascular risks.