[Mechanical adaptation of muscular arteries to acute increase of blood pressure in man. Contribution of the measurement of arterial wall thickness].

Although it was usually admitted that hypertension is associated with a reduction in conduit artery compliance and distensibility, recent experiments using newly developed high precision echo-tracking devices allowing simultaneous, non-invasive measurements of blood pressure and arterial diameter have suggested that compliance and distensibility, when calculated at equal transmural pressure, could indeed be maintained, or even increased, in hypertensive subjects. Such a maintained arterial compliance could be explained best by a decrease in wall stress despite the increase in arterial blood pressure, through either an increase in wall thickness or a decrease in arterial wall elastic modulus. Thus, the goal of the present study was to assess the role of the changes in these determinants of vessel compliance in the arterial response to an acute increase in arterial pressure in 7 healthy volunteers. Arterial pressure (AP, Finapress) as well as right radial artery internal diameter and wall thickness (Echo-Tracking, NIUS 2, Asulab) were measured continuously before and after a 2 min cold pressor test (CPT). The following parameters were then calculated at fixed (105 mmHg) pressure from the pressure/diameter curve: compliance (mm2/mmHg) and distensibility (mmHg-1) mid-wall stress (dynes/cm2) and incremental elastic modulus (dynes/cm2). During CPT, mean AP increased (from 83 +/- 4 to 106 +/- 8 mmHg; p < 0.01), compliance distensibility; and mean internal diameter (mm) decreased, mean wall thickness (mm) increased, whereas wall stress and elastic modulus remained unchanged.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)