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OBJECTIVE: To clarify whether the acute and marked increase in blood pressure associated with smoking is accompanied by an alteration in arterial compliance. DESIGN: Arterial compliance was measured in 13 subjects before and after smoking a cigarette with a nicotine content of 1.2 mg, or before and after sham smoking. Measurements were obtained with the subjects at rest and after prolonged brachial artery occlusion (12 min). METHODS: Compliance was measured using an echo-tracking system capable of continuously providing (300 readings/s) radial diameter data and, with the addition of a photoplesythmographic device, blood pressure measurement. RESULTS: Acute cigarette smoking caused a pressor and tachycardic response, and decreased markedly both resting radial artery diameter and compliance, at blood pressure values identical to those before smoking. The marked increase in radial artery diameter and compliance brought about by local ischaemia was unaffected by smoking, and no changes were observed both at rest and after ischaemia as a result of sham smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking causes a marked reduction in radial artery compliance, and the effect is independent of the increase in blood pressure. However, the marked increase in compliance due to ischaemia is not modified by smoking.
Giannattasio et al. (Wed,) studied this question.