Pulse pressure and echocardiographic findings in essential hypertension

Blood pressure, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and cardiac mass as judged on echocardiography were evaluated in 11 normal subjects and 36 patients with sustained essential hypertension of similar age. The hypertensive patients were divided into two groups of similar age, weight, height and mean arterial pressure: patients in the first group (Group I) had a pulse pressure inferior to 60 mmHg and in the second group (Group II) had a pulse pressure equal or superior to this value. Group II patients had significant higher values for cardiac mass (148.8 +/- 44.3 vs 116.3 +/- 19.8 g/m2; P less than 0.01) (+/- 1 s.d.) than Group I, while mean arterial pressure and pulse wave velocity were similar in the two groups. Stroke volume was significantly higher in Group II than in normal subjects (99.5 +/- 17.1 versus 82.7 +/- 16.9 ml; P less than 0.05). The study findings suggested that the increased pulse pressure in hypertensive patients might influence the development of cardiac hypertrophy independently of mean arterial pressure and aortic distensibility. The increased pulse pressure could reflect a disturbance between ventricular ejection and impedance affecting the ventricle with a resulting increase in pulsatile energy losses and further increase in cardiac mass.