[Assessment of Vascular Stiffness in Normotensive Patients With Familial Hypercholesterolemia].

Aim: to analyze parameters of vascular stiffness and augmentation index in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Materials and methods. We compared parameters of vascular stiffness of 88 normotensive FH patients (mean age 41.95 +/- 1.43 years, 43 men [48.9%]) and 68 subjects with normal blood lipid spectrum (mean age 37.58 +/- 1.02 years, 21 men [30.9%]). FH was diagnosed according to the criteria of the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network. Examination included lipid profile, 24-hour blood pressure (BP) monitoring with assessment of arterial stiffness. Results. Normotensive FH patients had higher pulse wave velocity (PWV) (7.99 +/- 0.17 m/s) in comparison with patients with normal lipid spectrum (6.87 +/- 0.10 m/s), p < 0.05. In patients with FH significant changes of properties of both direct and reflected waves were also detected with increasing age. Increasing BMI in FH patients was associated with greater changes of the reflected wave and PWV variability. Conclusion. Changes of properties of vascular wall in FH patients even at preclinical stages are more pronounced than in subjects with normal blood lipid profile.