Department of Echocardiography, Changzhou No. 2 People's Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China.
J Clin Ultrasound. 2021 May;49(4):351-357. doi: 10.1002/jcu.22925. Epub 2020 Sep 19.
Hypertension is the most common chronic disease and the most important risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Atheroma and arteriosclerosis plays a key role in the occurrence and development of hypertension. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the elasticity of ascending aorta wall in patients with essential hypertension (EH) using M-mode echocardiography.
We prospectively enrolled 54 EH patients and 51 healthy subjects (HS). They all underwent transthoracic echocardiography to measure ascending aorta inner diameters and brachial blood pressure measurement to calculate aortic elastic variables: compliance, distensibility, strain, stiffness index, and Peterson's elastic modulus. All participants also underwent bilateral carotid ultrasonographic examination.
There were no significant differences in age, sex, body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and ascending aorta inner diameters between the two groups. We found neither intimal thickening nor plaque formation in the left or right carotid arteries in both groups. The aortic elastic properties were significantly impaired in EH patients compared with HS.
Echocardiography can be used for the noninvasive evaluation of ascending aorta wall elasticity as an early screening technique. Subclinical arteriosclerosis appeared to occur in the ascending aorta of patients with essential hypertension even though carotid ultrasonography was normal.
高血压是最常见的慢性病，也是心脑血管疾病最重要的危险因素。动脉粥样硬化和动脉硬化在高血压的发生和发展中起着关键作用。本研究旨在使用 M 型超声心动图评估原发性高血压（EH）患者升主动脉壁的弹性。
我们前瞻性地招募了 54 名 EH 患者和 51 名健康受试者（HS）。所有患者均接受经胸超声心动图检查以测量升主动脉内径，并进行肱动脉血压测量以计算主动脉弹性变量：顺应性、扩张性、应变、僵硬度指数和 Peterson 弹性模量。所有参与者还接受了双侧颈动脉超声检查。
两组间年龄、性别、体重指数、血脂、血糖和升主动脉内径无显著差异。两组患者的左右颈动脉均未见内膜增厚或斑块形成。EH 患者的主动脉弹性明显受损，与 HS 相比。
超声心动图可用于非侵入性评估升主动脉壁弹性，作为早期筛查技术。即使颈动脉超声正常，原发性高血压患者的升主动脉也可能出现亚临床动脉硬化。
