[The influence of demographic and clinical parameters on arterial elasticity indices in families with hypertension and coronary artery disease].

The aim of this study was to assess associations between clinical factors and large (C1) and small (C2) artery elasticity indices. The study was performed in a group consisting of 162 persons: 81 men and 81 women (mean age--43.7 +/- 16.1 years), representing 45 families (88 parents--50 suffering from hypertension, 50 with ischaemic heart disease, 9 type 2 diabetic patients and 74 offsprings--5 with hypertension, 1 with ischaemic heart disease). Mean age in the group of parents was 56.4 +/- 8.3 years, in the group of children--28.7 +/- 8.3 years. Arterial elasticity was assessed using HDI Pulsewave TM CR-2000 machine. Subjects with hypertension had lower C1 than those with normotension (12.2 +/- 4.1 vs 15.0 +/- 3.7, p < 0.00002) and diabetic subjects exhibited lower C1 than non-diabetic controls (11.4 +/- 2.8 vs 14.3 +/- 4, p < 0.04). C2 value was significantly lower in subjects with hypertension (4.1 +/- 2.3 vs 6.7 +/- 2.9, p < 8 x 10(-2)) than in normotensives and patients with coronary artery disease had lower C2 than subjects without heart disease (4.2 +/- 2.1 vs 6.6 +/- 3.1, p < 6 x 10(-6)). C1 correlated inversely with systolic (Rs = -0.54, p < 8 x 10(-14)) and diastolic pressure (r = -0.33, p < 0.003), as well as C2. Filial C1 correlated positively with paternal C1 (Rs = 0.3, p < 0.04). Our data indicate that traditional cardiovascular risk factors correlate with marker of arterial elasticity. Correlation between C1 in fathers and sons suggests the familial predisposition in the group of men.