Vascular Compliance in Hypertension

Vascular compliance is decreased in men with sustained essential hypertension. Reduced arterial compliance contributes to the maintenance of systolic pressure and end-systolic stress, thus participating in the development of cardiac hypertrophy. Reduced venous compliance contributes to maintaining the filling pressure of the heart in the presence of reduced intravascular volume. Reduced arterial and venous compliances are not the simple consequence of the elevated blood pressure but also reflect intrinsic alterations of the vascular wall. Thus, the blood pressure reduction due to antihypertensive agents is not constantly associated with a reversion of the decreased vascular compliance.