Association between reduced arterial stiffness and preserved diastolic function of the left ventricle in middle‐aged and elderly patients

The aim of this study was to investigate whether arterial stiffness plays a role in retaining normal diastolic function in a middle‐aged and elderly Korean population. A total of 267 patients without documented cardiovascular disease, 50 years and older (mean age, 57.3±6.3 years; 69.8% men) were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent both transthoracic echocardiography and brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity measurement on the same day. Patients with septal annular peak velocity (e’) ≥8 cm/s and left atrial volume index <34 mL /m 2 were considered as having normal diastolic function. Ninety‐eight patients (36.7%) had normal diastolic function. Low brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity (<1314 cm/s) was an independent factor for determining normal diastolic function even after controlling for potential confounders in multiple logistic regression analysis (odds ratio, 2.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.46–4.57; P =.001). Our results suggest that compliant arteries may play an important role in maintaining normal left ventricular diastolic function in middle‐aged and elderly patients without documented cardiovascular disease.