Coronary Flow Velocity Reserve and Aortic Distensibility Indices in Hypertensive Patients with Hypercholesterolaemia and Normal Epicardial Coronary Arteries

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between coronary flow velocity reserve (CFR), aortic distensibility indices, and levels of plasma total cholesterol (TC) in arterial hypertension. We studied 39 consecutive hypertensive patients free of coronary artery disease. Eighteen of them had normal TC and 21 had 1⁸ high TC. Coronary flow velocity reserve and aortic elastic moduli were measured during stress transoesophageal echocardiography. Reduced CFR (2.41 ± 0.75 vs. 1.97 ± 0.60, p < 0.05), increased aortic elastic modulus (in 10³ mmHg) (0.56 ± 0.41 vs. 0.77 ± 0.29, p < 0.05) and Young's modulus (in 10³ mmHg) (5.42 ± 4.03 vs. 8.57 ± 4.79, p < 0.05) were found in hypercholesterolaemia.

Keywords:

• hypertension
• hypercholesterolaemia
• coronary flow reserve
• aortic
• stiffness
• distensibility
• echocardiography