The Comparison of the Impact of Arterial Stiffness and Central Pressure on Left Ventricular Geometry and Diastolic Function

Background: This study was performed to compare the associations of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and central blood pressure (CBP) measurements with left ventricular (LV) geometry and diastolic function.

Methods: A total of 77 subjects (64.5 ± 10.8 years, 67.5% females) without documented cardiovascular disease were prospectively recruited. All subjects underwent transthoracic echocardiography, baPWV and noninvasive measurement of CBP on the same day.

Results: In simple linear correlation analyses, neither baPWV nor CBP was associated with LV mass index or relative wall thickness ( > 0.05 for each). Although baPWV significantly correlated with septal e´ velocity in simple linear correlation analyses ( = 0.258,  = 0.025), the significance was lost after controlling for potential confounder ( = 0.881). In simple linear correlation analyses, central systolic blood pressure (CSBP) and central pulse pressure (CPP) significantly correlated with both septal e´ velocity or E/e´ ( <  0.05 for each); however, neither central diastolic nor mean arterial pressures was associated with both septal e´ velocity and E/e´ ( > 0.05 for each). After controlling for confounders, including age, sex and body mass index, CSBP correlated with septal e´ velocity ( = - 0.258,  = 0.025), but not with E/e´ ( = 0.074). CPP correlated with both septal e´ velocity ( = - 0.300,  = 0.014) and E/e´ ( = 0.428,  = 0.002) in the same multivariable model.

Conclusions: In subjects without documented cardiovascular disease, CSBP and CPP may be more strongly associated with LV diastolic function than baPWV. Further studies with a larger sample size are needed to confirm our results.