Is Arterial Hypertension Control Enough to Improve Aortic Stiffness in Untreated Patients With Hypertension? A 3-Year Follow-Up Study

Aortic stiffness is an important determinant of cardiovascular risk. We studied the long-term influence of successful antihypertensive treatment after a 3-year follow-up, regarding aortic stiffness improvement from baseline evaluation in never treated middle-aged patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. In 132 patients with hypertension, aortic stiffness was evaluated by carotid-femoral artery pulse wave velocity (PWV). Patients with 24-hour mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure ≤130/80 mm Hg after treatment at reevaluation were considered as well controlled. The PWV after treatment was significantly increased in all patients with hypertension (P < .01) and uncontrolled patients with hypertension (P < .001), remained unchanged in controlled patients with hypertension, and decreased in controlled patients with hypertension with baseline PWV ≥12.4 m/s (P = .004), independent of the corresponding blood pressure (BP) decrease. Our study provides evidence that successful antihypertensive treatment leads to PWV improvement when baseline aortic stiffness level is at least moderately increased. The magnitude of observed PWV decrease is independent of the corresponding BP decrease.