title: Peripheral Augmentation Index is Associated With the Ambulatory Arterial Stiffness Index in Patients With Hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vascular dysfunction is highly prevalent if not ubiquitous in patients with hypertension. We compared two different measures of vascular function obtained from digital volume waveforms with measures of ventricular-vascular load derived from 24-hour blood pressure (BP) recordings in patients with hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  Digital pulsatile volume waveforms were captured via plethysmography (peripheral arterial tone, PAT) and used to derive augmentation index (a measure of ventricular-vascular coupling) and the pulse wave amplitude-reactive hyperemia index (a measure of microvascular reactivity). Ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) and the BP variability ratio (BPVR) were derived from 24-hour ambulatory BP recordings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a positive association between PAT-AIx and AASI (r = 0.52, P < 0.05). There was also a positive association between PAT-AIx and BPVR (r = 0.37, P < 0.05). PAT-AIx was not associated with PWA-RHI (r = -0.14, P > 0.05). PWA-RHI was not associated with AASI or BPVR (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PAT-AIx is associated with ambulatory measures of vascular function and may offer clinical insight into vascular burden and cardiovascular disease risk in patients with hypertension independent of information obtained from PWA-RHI.
authors.affiliation: Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Exercise Science, Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Heffernan
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology and the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston MA, USA.
authors.forename: Eshan A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Patvardhan
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology and the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston MA, USA.
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Karas
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology and the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kuvin
keywords: Ambulatory arterial stiffness index; Augmentation index; Blood pressure; Pulse wave amplitude