Arterial hypertension and cardiovascular damage in the elderly: focus on arterial stiffness and left ventricular hypertrophy.

Both aging and Arterial Hypertension (AH) cause a series of structural and functional changes in the cardiovascular apparatus. The reduction of aortic distensibility (RAD) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are, in particular, two significant markers of cardiovascular damage apart from being factors of serious and widespread morphological alterations. In this paper, the Authors analyze the effects of aging and of AH on the cardiovascular apparatus in order to find a possible clinical significance in relation to both RAD and LVH.