[Effect of arterial hypertension on pulse wave velocity and the diameter and compliance of the brachial artery in man].

The non invasive investigation of the brachial artery was performed in 51 mild to moderate essential hypertensive patients and 23 normal subjects of similar age. It included quantitative evaluation of arterial diameter (pulsed Doppler velocimetry), pulse wave velocity (strain gauge mechanography) and arterial compliance deduced from the former indices. Hypertensive patients exhibited higher pulse wave velocity (Pw 0.001) and arterial diameter (p less than 0.01) than normal controls. The strong correlation found in normal subjects between pulse wave velocity and the product of age and diastolic pressure (r = 0.88, p less than 0.001) was used as a nomogram for the analysis of those hypertensive arterial changes. Accordingly the projection of patients on this nomogram enables to distinguish two groups according to that pulse wave velocity was inside (Group 1) (37 patients) or above (Group II) (34 patients) the upper limit of the nomogram. The comparison of these two groups of hypertensive patients showed that despite a similar level of age and pressure, arterial compliance was lower and pulse pressure higher in Group II than in Group I. These results demonstrate that early alterations of brachial artery occur in hypertension: these arterial changes can be attributed in most of the patient to the exclusive effect of aging and pressure elevation; however, in some patients additional degenerative process, perhaps atherosclerotic in nature, is responsible for profound decrease in arterial compliance and increase in pulse pressure so that such patients may appear as especially predisposed to systolic hypertension and degenerative arterial complications.