Height and sex is strongly associated with radial augmentation index in Korean patients with never-treated hypertension

OBJECTIVES Central hemodynamics may better represent the load imposed on the coronary and cerebral arteries and thereby bear a stronger relationship to cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS Patients who had confirmed hypertension as assessed by daytime 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (≥135/85 mmHg) were enrolled. Central blood pressure and radial augmentation index (AIx) corrected for a heart rate of 75 bpm (radial AIx 75) were measured for all patients. We evaluated the association of age, height, and sex with central hemodynamics in patients with never-treated hypertension. RESULTS A total of 203 patients were enrolled, of whom men numbered 101 (49.7%). The median height of all patients was 162 cm, and mean age was 53.2 years. In the Pearson correlation analysis, regardless of sex difference (R=-0.627 for height, R=0.035 for age, P-value =0.005), a stronger relationship was observed between height and radial AIx 75 than between age and radial AIx 75. In the multiple regression analysis, the sex difference and height were strongly associated with elevated radial AIx 75 in all patients (adjusted R (2)=0.428, β=6.237, 95% confidence interval [CI] for women 1.480-10.995, P-value =0.011 and β=-0.632, 95% CI for height -0.929 to -0.335, P-value =0.009, respectively). CONCLUSION In patients with never-treated hypertension, female sex and shorter height are the important risk factors of elevated radial AIx 75.