CORRELATION BETWEEN AORTIC PULSE-WAVE VELOCITY AND NOREPINEPHRINE, EPINEPHRINE, ALDOSTERONE AND PLASMA-RENIN ACTIVITY IN VERY ELDERLY SUBJECTS AND IN PATIENTS WITH CONGESTIVE-HEART-FAILURE

The expression of cardiovascular disease in older patients results fro m the interaction between age-related changes and the disease process itself. It is still unclear whether the physiologic and pathophysiolog ic changes that occur with advanced age accelerate or compound the fac tors responsible for congestive heart failure (CHF). Whether, and to w hat extent, arterial compliance is altered in CHF in the elderly is no t clear. It is also unknown whether the plasma levels of neurohumoral factors in the healthy elderly and in CHF patients are associated with changes in arterial compliance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) in the aorta of elderly healthy subjects and CHF patients, and establish the correlation between PWV a nd plasma levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine, aldosterone, and reni n activity. The study group consisted of 63 females aged 70-100 years (mean, 82 years) with CHF, and 15 age-matched healthy women. Aortic PW V in patients with heart failure did not differ significantly from fig ures in the age-matched healthy group (12.42 m/sec vs 11.86 m/sec). No statistically significant correlations were found between plasma leve ls of norepinephrine, epinephrine, aldosterone and renin activity, and aortic compliance measured as PWV. These results suggest that age-ass ociated arterial stiffening is a predominant factor in the development of reduced arterial compliance in elderly patients with CHF.