Higher pulse pressure/stroke volume index is associated with impaired outcome in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy the LIFE study.

We tested the prognostic impact of a marker of arterial stiffness, pulse pressure/stroke volume index (PP/SVi), in patients with hypertension and left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy. We used data from 866 patients randomized to losartan or atenolol-based antihypertensive treatment, over a median of 4.8 years, in the Losartan Intervention For Endpoint reduction in hypertension (LIFE) study. The association of PP/SVi with outcomes was tested in Cox regression analyses and reported as hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). In multivariate regression, reduction of PP/SVi was independently associated with male gender, reduction in systolic blood pressure (BP) and relative wall thickness and with an increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (all p<.05). After adjusting for confounders, higher baseline PP/SVi predicted a 38% higher hazard of combined major fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events (95% CI 1.04-1.84), and higher hazard of cardiovascular mortality (HR 2.35 (95% CI 1.59-3.48) and stroke (HR 1.45 (95% CI 1.06-1.99) (all p<.05). Higher PP/SVi also predicts higher rate of hospitalization for HF (HR 2.15 (95% CI 1.48-3.12) and a 52% higher hazard of all-cause mortality (95% CI 1.10-2.09) (both p<.05). In hypertensive patients with electrocardiographic LV hypertrophy, higher PP/SVi was associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.