Age-related change in contribution of stroke volume to central pulse pressure

ABSTRACT

We investigated age-related change in the contribution of stroke volume (SV) to central PP (cPP). Eighty seven adult subjects who were free of vasoactive agents were included. Subjects were divided into three age groups: young (20–39 years, n = 26), middle (40–49 years, n = 29), and old (≥50 years, n = 32). SV was calculated by Doppler echocardiography. Hemodynamic indices were measured using a brachial cuff-based oscillometric method. The brachial and cPP showed a small decline from the young group to the middle group and a greater rise after 50 years old. SV significantly and positively correlated with brachial (r = 0.53, p < 0.01) and cPP (r = 0.57, p < 0.01) in the young group. In the middle group, the association of SV with brachial pulse pressure was significant (r = 0.38, p = 0.04) and that with cPP was bordering significant (r = 0.34, p = 0.07). No significant association was found between SV and PP in the old group. In conclusion, the contribution of SV to cPP decreases with age. Age-related changes in the determinants of cPP should be considered when investigating the clinical value of cPP.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging
• central blood pressure
• pulse pressure
• stroke volume

Acknowledgment

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of our echocardiography laboratory team.

Funding

Sho Okada received lecture fees from Otsuka Pharmaceutical (Tokyo, Japan), Takeda Pharmaceutical (Osaka, Japan), and MSD (Tokyo, Japan). Sho Okada received a research grant from Daiwa Securities Health Foundation (Tokyo, Japan) and Kashiwado Memorial Foundation (Chiba, Japan).

Yoshio Kobayashi received lecture fees from Daiichi-Sankyo (Tokyo, Japan), Takeda Pharmaceutical (Osaka, Japan), Bayer Yakuhin (Osaka, Japan), and Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany).

Yoshio Kobayashi also received a research grant from Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany), Pfizer (New York, USA), Otsuka Pharmaceutical (Tokyo, Japan), Takeda Pharmaceutical (Osaka, Japan), Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma (Osaka, Japan), Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (Osaka, Japan), Astellas Pharma (Tokyo, Japan), St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, USA), Abbott Vascular Japan (Tokyo, Japan), and Daiichi-Sankyo (Tokyo, Japan).