This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 40/6/e10    most recent 01.HYP.0000041883.60004.7Bv1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zambanini, A. Articles by Lievre, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zambanini, A. Articles by Lievre, M. Related Collections Risk Factors Other hypertension Other arteriosclerosis Other Research

(Hypertension. 2002;40:e10.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Central Aortic Pressure Influences Pulse Wave Velocity

Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, E-mail a.zambanini@ic.ac.uk

Kim H. Parker

Physiological Flow Studies Group, Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

To the Editor:

The study reported by Lantelme and colleagues¹ suggests that increasing heart rate is independently associated with higher aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV). We are concerned that the authors of this study have neither addressed the impact of central aortic pressure changes on PWV nor the presence of potential bias in their study.

In Lantelme’s study, PWV represented the average wave speed from the carotid artery, through the aorta, and down to the common femoral artery. Local wave speed varies between different arteries and along the length of the aorta,² and, furthermore, may alter in response to changes in local pressure.³ Knowledge of central aortic pressure is therefore an essential requirement for the interpretation of studies using PWV.

Central aortic pressure is influenced by left ventricular ejection and the phenomenon of wave reflection.³ Systolic pressure in peripheral muscular arteries tends to be higher than in those measured centrally,⁴ particularly in younger subjects, and amplification of the central pressure pulse toward the periphery may be influenced by a number of factors, including heart rate.^5–7 Previous work using similarly aged subjects^5,6 suggested that, over a similar range of heart-pacing rates, there was a significant increase in both diastolic and mean central pressures. Only one study measured PWV,⁵ where it was noted to increase nonsignificantly with increasing heart rate. There is also evidence that in younger subjects increased heart-pacing rates are associated with elevation of central diastolic blood pressure.^7,8 It is possible therefore that central pressures, and particularly diastolic blood pressure, which were not . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Pierre Lantelme; Christine Mestre; Alain Gressard; Hugues Milon

Service de Cardiologie, Hôpital de la Croix-Rousse, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Faculté de Médecine Lyon-Nord and EA 645, Lyon, France, E-mail pierrelantelme@hotmail.com

Michel Lievre

Service de Pharmacologie clinique, Lyon, France

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Karamanoglu, P. Lantelme, C. Mestre, and H. Milon Errors in Estimating Propagation Distances in Pulse Wave Velocity * Response Hypertension, June 1, 2003; e8(6): . [Full Text] [PDF]