Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Hypertension is characterized by microvascular remodeling resulting in
increased wall/lumen ratio and elevated microvascular stiffness. Aiming to
transform the measurement of macrovascular stiffness into a microvascular
environment we introduce a noninvasive method to assess rPWV. rPWV alterations in
early hypertension are investigated in detail. The developed methodology is
compared with its possible computational alternatives. METHODS: Time dependent
alterations of retinal arterial diameter were assessed noninvasively by the DVA
in 65 male normoalbuminuric normotensive to mildly hypertensive subjects (age:
28.7 +/- 6.0 years). rPWV was computed using three different methods. \dqMethod 1\dq
used filtration at HR, \dqMethod 2\dq filtered at higher HR multiples, and \dqMethod 3\dq
used in addition, linear fit for data averaging. RESULTS: \dqMethod 2\dq and \dqMethod
3\dq applying filtration at high HR multiples showed strong associations with
systolic BP throughout the cohort (r = 0.49, r = 0.63, p < 0.001). Based on the
highest association, \dqMethod 3\dq was proposed to characterize rPWV. Hypertensive
patients showed higher rPWV (1243 +/- 694 RU/sec) than subjects with high-normal
BP (786 +/- 486 RU/sec, p < 0.01) or normotensive subjects (442 +/- 148 RU/sec, p
< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: rPWV demonstrated a strong association with BP and can
discriminate between optimal, high-normal, and mildly hypertensive BP values.
rPWV may add detailed insights into early microvascular pathophysiology,
potentially beyond microalbuminuria.
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