Pulse pressure rather than diastolic pressure is the best predictor of coronary heart disease risk in older subjects, but the converse is true in younger subjects. We hypothesized that this disparity results from an age-related difference in pressure amplification from the aorta to brachial artery. Data from 212 subjects age < 50 years and 230 subjects age > or =50 years were abstracted from a ...

This study was performed to compare continuous Finapres (FIN) and intrabrachial (IAP) blood pressure in healthy elderly volunteers. Fifteen elderly subjects (age 71 to 83) without cardiovascular disease and an intraarterial mean (range) systolic and diastolic blood pressure of 162 (122 to 195) and 73 (62 to 88) mm Hg, respectively, participated in the study. A 10-min head-up tilt, 10 min active...

Oral glucose tolerance tests with plasma glucose and insulin determinations were performed on 195 patients with impaired glucose tolerance. Patients were divided into three groups according to blood pressure levels: normal, below 140/90 mm Hg; diastolic hypertension, diastolic pressure above 90 mm Hg; and systolic hypertension, systolic pressure above 140 and diastolic pressure below 90 mm Hg. ...

Although borderline isolated systolic hypertension (ISH), defined as a blood pressure of 140 to 159/ 90 mm Hg, is a proven cardiovascular risk factor, the major clinical trials on treatment of ISH have used a cutoff of 160 mm Hg. Moreover, no data exist on the cardiovascular modifications associated with borderline ISH. Therefore, we compared subjects with borderline ISH to subjects with diasto...

Although borderline isolated systolic hypertension (ISH), defined as a blood pressure of 140 to 159/<90 mm Hg, is a proven cardiovascular risk factor, the major clinical trials on treatment of ISH have used a cutoff of 160 mm Hg. Moreover, no data exist on the cardiovascular modifications associated with borderline ISH. Therefore, we compared subjects with borderline ISH to subjects with diasto...

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of octreotide, a somatostatin analog drug potentially able to inhibit growth hormone (GH), on the circadian blood pressure profile in a group of patients with acromegaly. Ten patients with GH-secreting pituitary adenoma were studied before and 6 months after treatment with subcutaneous octreotide 0.2 to 0.6 mg/day. Twenty-four hour blood pressu...

A cardiac cycle consists of systolic (contraction) and diastolic (relaxation and filling) phases that are linked closely together for optimal function of the heart. Normal diastolic function allows adequate filling of the heart without an excessive increase in diastolic filling pressure both in the resting state and with stress or exertion.1 The diastolic phase is remarkably well designed to en...

The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude and significance of the associations among coronary artery calcium (CAC) and systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure. Women 50 to 59 years of age at baseline in the Women's Health Initiative clinical trial of conjugated equine estrogen underwent computed tomography scanning of the chest af...

This research was undertaken to develop a cardiovascular simulator for use in the study of pulse diagnosis. The physical (i.e., pulse wave transmission and reflection) and physiological (i.e., systolic and diastolic pressure, pulse pressure, and mean pressure) characteristics of the radial pulse wave were reproduced by our simulator. The simulator consisted of an arterial component and a pulse-...