INCREASED PULSE-WAVE VELOCITY AND SHORTENED PULSE-WAVE TRANSMISSION TIME IN HYPERTENSION AND AGING

We measured pulse wave velocity (PWV) and pulse transmission time (PTT ) in 29 patients with hypertension, ranging in age from 37 to 73 years , in a series of 36 normal subjects with the same age range, and in an additional series of 44 normal subjects aged 18-35 years. PWV increas es linearly with age for both normal subjects and patients with hypert ension, with a corresponding significant decrease in PTT. There was a statistically highly significant (p < 0.001) increase in PWV in hypert ension at all ages examined, The present simple noninvasive methods ma y be useful when evaluating risk factors for atherosclerosis and when evaluating response to therapeutic intervention.