Assessment Of Segmental Viscoelastic Properties Comparing Normotensive Patients With Treated Essential Hypertensive Patients

Local elastic properties of the descending aorta at different levels were evaluated derived from intravascular ultrasound images and pressure measurements. For this purpose 30 normotensive subjects (NBP) and 30 age matched, medically treated patients with essential hypertension (EH), who underwent diagnostic cardiac catheterization were studied. Although the diastolic blood pressure showed no significant difference, in EH the continuous loss of volume compliance with increasing distance from the heart was significantly higher (1.45+/-0.19 10(-10) m(5)/at the thoracic aorta compared to 0.08 +/- 0.05 10(-10) m(5)/N at the external iliac artery in NBP vs. 0.81+/-0.09 10(-10) m(5)/N and 0.05+/-0.01 10(-10) m(5)/N at corresponding sites in EH), indicating changing vessel wall structure along the aortic tree. Although only systolic but not diastolic blood pressure of EH was not significantly different from that of NBP viscoelastic parameters of the aortic wall remained altered. Normalization of high blood pressure by long-term antihypertensive treatment may not fully reverse changes in viscoelastic properties of the arterial wall caused by arterial hypertension.