title: Age affects proximal brachial artery stiffness; differential behavior within the length of the brachial artery?
abstract: With increasing age, the diameter of central elastic arteries increases, whereas their distensibility decreases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanical properties of the proximal brachial artery in relation to age and gender. Distensibility coefficient (DC), stiffness and compliance coefficient (CC) were calculated in 136 healthy males and females (range 9-82 y) using echo-tracking sonography. CC decreased with age in both genders, but CC was higher in males. Stiffness increased and DC decreased with age in an exponential manner, without any differences between genders. In conclusion, as in central elastic arteries, the distensibility of the proximal brachial artery decreases with age, in contrast to earlier reports on the muscular distal brachial artery. This may imply that the transition between elastic and muscular artery behavior is within the length of the brachial artery. In future studies using the brachial artery, the examination site needs to be defined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Care, University of Linköping, Jönköping Hospital, Jönköping, Sweden. niklas.bjarnegard@ltkpg.se
authors.forename: Niclas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bjarnegård
authors.forename: Asa Rydén
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ahlgren
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sandgren
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sonesson
authors.forename: Toste
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Länne
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D003187:Compliance; D004548:Elasticity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology