[PP.12.19] THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ARTERIAL STIFFNESS AND CARDIAC REMODELING IN FEMALE HYPERTENSION PATIENTS

Abstract

We hypothesized that cardiac remodeling would be associated with correlation index of arteriosclerosis. And there are differences between males and females. The porpose is to illustrate the characteristics of the arterial stiffness and cardiac remodeling in female hypertension patients.

One hundred and forty hypertensive patients provided written informed consent. Eligible participants were men and women aged 45 to 65 years old who had hypertension, defined as seated resting systolic blood pressure of 140 mmHg or higher or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or higher at both of the screening and recruitment visits or were taking an antihypertensive medication. Some indicators of the cardiac anatomy structures, the cardiac function was measured by M-mode echocardiography, two-dimensional echocardiography, doppler echocardiographic determination and tissue Doppler imaging. The SphygmoCor Vx Pulse Wave Velocity System was used to measure the carotid and femoral artery pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV). For testing the primary hypothesis, the efficacy analyses for the primary outcome were conducted according to the ITT principle.

There was a strong relationship between cardiac remodeling and correlation index of arteriosclerosis. In the following cases, we can see the same relationship: In the male and female patients, with the increase of augmentation index (AIx), ejection fraction (EF) were significantly increased (P < 0.001). In the females, AIx increase value, the decrease of ankle brachial index (ABI) and PWV rised with left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVDD), end-diastolic volume (EDV) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) decreasing in patients (P < 0.05). In the male patients, the level of aortic artery systolic blood pressure (ASP) and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) also raised with the rising of LVDD, LVMI and interventricular septal diastolic thickness (P < 0.05).

In patients with hypertension, the cardiac remodeling is developing with the rising of correlation index of arteriosclerosis. Moreover, for females, the characteristic of cardiac remodeling is the decrease of LVDD. But in male patients, LVDD increasing is the main characteristic. We speculate that this difference may be related to sex hormones, but it is still necessary to confirm by multi center and large sample studies further.