Pulse pressure obtained from alternatively calibrated tonometer-derived pressure waves and echo-tracking-derived distension waves demonstrates good accuracy. Accuracy of pulse pressure from internally calibrated applanation tonometer readings at the carotid artery is poor.

Abstract-Compliance and distensibility are wall properties of large arteries, which may play a role in cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the influence of age on these vessel wall properties differs between vascular territories and is gender-dependent. In a population sample of 498 men and women 20 to 79 years of age, diameter, distensibility, and compliance coefficient of the muscular brachial artery were measured with an echo-tracking device. Distensibility of the aorta was measured with the use of pulse-wave velocity. The effects of age and gender were assessed and adjusted for confounding factors such as mean blood pressure, pulse rate, body mass index, smoking, alcohol intake, and antihypertensive treatment. Covariance analysis showed no relation between gender and distensibility of the elastic aorta. Distensibility of the muscular brachial artery was lower in men, whereas men had a larger diameter and larger compliance of the brachial artery. With age, distensibility of the aorta decreased in both sexes to the same extent, whereas distensibility of the brachial artery did not change significantly. With age, brachial artery diameter increased; this increase was more pronounced in women. In men brachial artery compliance did not change with age, whereas in women compliance of the brachial artery increased with age. This study (1) confirms that distensibility of the aorta, an elastic artery, decreases with age. (2) In contrast to the aorta, after adjustment for confounding factors, in both men and women, no relation exists between age and distensibility of the muscular brachial artery. (3) Brachial artery diameter increase with age is more pronounced in women than in men. (4) In contrast to the well-known decrease in arterial compliance of elastic arteries with age, brachial artery compliance is not decreased with age and is increased in women. In conclusion, the effect of age on large-artery wall properties is not uniform but depends on gender and vascular territory. (Hypertension. 2000;35:637-642.)

Abstract-Different genetic polymorphisms influence cardiovascular disease. We recently discovered a relationship between the intima-media thickness of the muscular femoral artery, but not the elastic common carotid artery, and the combined ACE (ACE, I/D), ␣-adducin (Gly460Trp), and aldosterone synthase (AS, CϪ344T) gene polymorphisms. To investigate the relationship between these polymorphisms and functional properties of the carotid artery and femoral artery, a sample of 756 subjects enrolled in a population study were genotyped for the presence of the ACE D, ␣-adducin 460Trp, and aldosterone synthase Ϫ344T alleles. Vessel wall properties were assessed using a vessel wall movement detector system in combination with applanation tonometry. Statistical analysis allowed for confounders and interaction among genes. Cross-sectional compliance of the common carotid artery was negatively associated with the ACE D allele. ACE II versus ACE DD homozygotes differed, expressed as a percentage of the population mean (7.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6% to 12.4%; Pϭ0.02). In multigene analysis, ACE DD subjects also deviated significantly from the population mean for the distensibility coefficient of the common carotid artery when carrying the AS/T allele (Ϫ5.5%; 95% CI, Ϫ9.3% to Ϫ1.7%; PϽ0.01), without a change in cross-sectional compliance. ACE DD subjects, when homozygote for ␣-adducin Gly460, had a lower femoral cross-sectional compliance (Ϫ10.4%; 95% CI, Ϫ1.9% to Ϫ18.9%; PϽ0.03) and a lower distensibility (Ϫ9.7%; 95% CI, Ϫ2.1% to Ϫ17.3%; PϽ0.02) compared with the population mean. These data show that functional large artery properties are influenced by the ACE I/D polymorphism. Cross-sectional compliance and distensibility coefficients are influenced by the ACE I/D genotype, but this influence depends on the vascular territory and genetic background.