Clinical relevance of distal arterial compliance.
OBJECTIVE
To calculate the compliance of resistance vessels.


METHODS
Pressure-flow data (plethysmographic and sphygmomanometric) were obtained non-invasively from six normal and six hypertensive subjects, and the results were compared with similar data obtained previously from large blood vessels. The parameter used to represent compliance was extensibility (E), defined as the percentage change in radius for a given change in pressure.


RESULTS
The hand vessels of hypertensive subjects (E = 0.126 +/- 0.034/mmHg) were significantly stiffer (P < 0.02) than those of the normotensive subjects (E = 0.272 +/- 0.047/mmHg); and the values of E for the resistance vessels were larger than those for the large arteries.
Patel
D J
DJ
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059.
Coleman
B R
BR
Carpentier
R G
RG
Mehrotra
P P
PP
Tearney
R J
RJ
Cothran
L N
LN
Curry
C L
CL
D001158:Arteries / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003187:Compliance; D006225:Hand / Q000098:blood supply*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008433:Mathematics; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012212:Rheology; D014655:Vascular Resistance