Peripheral and central blood pressure of healthy youth

The clinical importance of central blood pressure (BP) has been gradually increasing in recent years, since several studies support that central blood pressure more closely correlates with cardiovascular end-points than peripheral BP does. Objectives: We measured the peripheral and the noninvasively determined central BPs of healthy, young volunteers, furthermore we examined the correlation of these two parameters with special regard to diurnal variation (8 AM, 12 PM, 5 PM) and gender difference. Methods: The measurements were carried out noninvasively using the SphygmoCor (AtCor Medical, Australia) device. Results with an operator index of >85% considered as acceptable. Results: 52 young subjects (23 males and 29 females) were included in the study. The peripheral and central systolic and diastolic BP values did not show any significant diurnal variation either for males, or females. All blood pressure values of the males were higher than that of females (p<0,001). The peripheral systolic blood pressure were higher than the noninvasively measured central systolic pressure during all three times of measurement (p<0,001). The differences for males were 14,3±3,7 mmHg; 17,4±3,6 mmHg, and 17,8±3,1 mmHg (p<0,001), while the amplification of systolic BP for females were 11,5±3,4 mmHg; 12,7±3,7 mmHg, and 12,9±3,5 mmHg (p<0,001), respectively. In case of the diastolic BP we did not find such a similar difference. The pulse pressure (PP) ratio (peripheral PP/ central PP) was significantly increasing for both genders during the day (males: p<0,001; females: p=0,003). Conclusion: We suppose that it is important to determine central blood pressure by non-invasive measurement, especially in young individuals, since the peripheral blood pressure measured at the brachial artery does not reliably represent the actual central pressure conditions.