Effects of blood pressure control on radial artery diameter and compliance in hypertensive patients.

The radial artery compliance may be paradoxically increased in untreated arterial hypertension. However, the effect of blood pressure normalization on the radial artery compliance is not well known. We performed a cross-sectional study in order to investigate the effects of blood pressure control on the radial artery diameter and compliance (echotracking and digital photoplethysmography) by comparing these variables in a group of untreated hypertensive patients and in another group of adequately treated hypertensive patients as well as in a group of healthy normotensive subjects. All groups were sex- and age-matched. Radial artery internal diameter was increased in both untreated hypertensive patients and effectively treated hypertensive patients comparatively to controls. Cross-sectional compliance and volumic distensibility were not different between groups. As compared to controls (2.85 +/- 0.39 x 10(-3) mm2 x mm Hg(-1) and 0.42 +/- 0.05 x 10(-3) mm Hg(-1)), isobaric (100 mm Hg) compliance and distensibility were significantly increased in untreated hypertensive patients (4.46 +/- 0.44 and 0.65 +/- 0.07, P < .01) but not significantly different in treated hypertensive patients (3.19 +/- 0.33 and 0.45 +/- 0.04, P = NS). The results of this cross-sectional study suggest that compliance abnormalities of the radial artery, but not internal diameter changes may be reversed by effective therapeutic control of blood pressure in arterial hypertension.