Pulse Pressure/Stroke Volume: A Surrogate Index Of Arterial Stiffness And The Relation To Segmental Relaxation And Longitudinal Systolic Deformation In Hypertensive Disease

Aims To investigate the effect of arterial stiffness on segmental relaxation and systolic deformation in hypertensive disease.Methods We evaluated 60 hpertensive patients and 30 non-hypertensive volunteers. without left ventrieular hypertrophy(LVN) and with left ventrieular hypertrophy(LVH). The segmental and global longitudinal strain(S) and strain rate(SR) and early and late diastolic SR were recorded from 18 segments. The number of segments with abnormal relaxation(SRE/SRA <1.0) was calculated as segmental DD. Pulse pressure/ stroke volume index was used as a surrogate marker of arterial stiffness.Results Arterial stiffness was higher in LVN and was more pronounced in the LVH group compared with the control( 1.26±0.45 mm Hg ㎡ /ml vs.1.53±0.59 mm Hg ㎡ /ml vs.1.82±0.43) mm Hg ㎡ /ml. The mean peak systolic longitudinal strains were(23.60±1.94)%、(19.69±2.56)%、(17.34±2.48)% in normal control group,group without left ventrieular hypertrophy,left ventrieular hypertrophy group respectively, with significant difference among the groups(P<0.01). as segmental DD was higher in LVN and was more pronounced in the LVH group compared with the control(11±3 vs.6±2 vs.4±2).There is a particular distribution of segmental DD that was more pronounced at the basal regions compared with apical LV territories. In a multivariate analysis,Arterial stiffness is found to be an independent predictor of segmental DD and global systolic deformation.Conclusion Arterial stiffness is independently related to abnormal segmental relaxation and global longitudinal systolic deformation in hypertensive disease.