title: Is Arterial Hypertension Control Enough to Improve Aortic Stiffness in Untreated Patients With Hypertension? A 3-Year Follow-Up Study.
abstract: Aortic stiffness is an important determinant of cardiovascular risk. We studied the long-term influence of successful antihypertensive treatment after a 3-year follow-up, regarding aortic stiffness improvement from baseline evaluation in never treated middle-aged patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. In 132 patients with hypertension, aortic stiffness was evaluated by carotid-femoral artery pulse wave velocity (PWV). Patients with 24-hour mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure ≤130/80 mm Hg after treatment at reevaluation were considered as well controlled. The PWV after treatment was significantly increased in all patients with hypertension (P < .01) and uncontrolled patients with hypertension (P < .001), remained unchanged in controlled patients with hypertension, and decreased in controlled patients with hypertension with baseline PWV ≥12.4 m/s (P = .004), independent of the corresponding blood pressure (BP) decrease. Our study provides evidence that successful antihypertensive treatment leads to PWV improvement when baseline aortic stiffness level is at least moderately increased. The magnitude of observed PWV decrease is independent of the corresponding BP decrease.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical School, University of Athens, ATTIKON Hospital, Athens, Greece seliani@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Triantafyllidi
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical School, University of Athens, ATTIKON Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Paraskevi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trivilou
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical School, University of Athens, ATTIKON Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Ignatios
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ikonomidis
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical School, University of Athens, ATTIKON Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kontsas
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical School, University of Athens, ATTIKON Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tzortzis
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical School, University of Athens, ATTIKON Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pavlidis
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical School, University of Athens, ATTIKON Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lekakis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D062186:Arterial Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D059289:Vascular Stiffness / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents
keywords: antihypertensive treatment; aortic stiffness; carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity; renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system inhibitors