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Early stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are characterized by the loss and narrowing of terminal bronchioles in the lung, resulting in “air-trapping,” often occurring before overt emphysema manifests. Individuals with an airway-predominant phenotype of COPD display extensive lung air-trapping and are at greater cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk than COPD patients with an emphysema-predominant phenotype. We hypothesized that the degree of computed tomography (CT)-quantified lung air-trapping would be associated with greater aortic and carotid artery stiffness and lower endothelial function, known biomarkers of CVD risk. Lung air-trapping was associated with greater aortic stiffness (carotid femoral pulse wave velocity, CFPWV) (r = 0.60, P = 0.007) and carotid β-stiffness (r = 0.75, P = 0.0001) among adults with (n = 10) and without (n = 9) a clinical diagnosis of COPD and …