The effects of age on pulse wave velocity in untreated hypertension

TRINGLER, MATÍAS; CABRERA FISCHER, EDMUNDO I.; WRAY, SANDRA; DIAZ, ALEJANDRO; RAMIREZ, AGUSTÍN J.

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPERTENSION

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2018 vol. 20 p. 258 - 265

1524-6175

Increased arterial stiffness is an important determinant of cardiovascular risk, able to predict morbidity and mortality, and closely associated with ageing and blood pressure. The aims of this study were: (1) To determine the age-dependent reference pulse wave velocity (PWV), and compare it with values from hypertensive patients, and (2) to evaluate the impact of isolated and untreated hypertension on arterial stiffness. A total of 1079 patients were enrolled and divided into a control group (NT) of asymptomatic normotensive patients and a group of asymptomatic hypertensive patients (HT). Blood pressure, carotid-femoral PWV, and body mass index were measured in each subject, whose blood was drawn for laboratory tests. Aortic mean PWV in the NT group was 6.85 ± 1.66 m/s, which increased linearly (R2 = 0.62; P