Pulse Pressure in Clinical Practice

ORIGINAL RESEARCH, January 2012, VOL II ISSUE I, ISSN 2042-4884
10.5083/ejcm.20424884.72 , Cite or Link Using DOI
Creating a Digital Object Identifier Link

A digital object identifier (DOI) can be used to cite and link to electronic documents. A DOI is guaranteed never to change, so you can use it to link permanently to electronic documents.

To find a document using a DOI

  1. Copy the DOI of the document you want to open.
    The correct format for citing a DOI is as follows: doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61345-8
  2. Open the following DOI site in your browser:
    dx.doi.org
  3. Enter the entire DOI citation in the text box provided, and then click Go.
    The document that matches the DOI citation will display in your browser window.

The DOI scheme is administered by the International DOI Foundation. Many of the world's leading publishers have come together to build a DOI-based document linking scheme known as CrossRef.

Petr Lokaj, Jiri Parenica, Monika Pavkova Goldbergova, Katerina Helanová, Roman Miklik, Petr Kubena, Ilona Parenicova, Jiri Jarkovsky, Simona Littnerova, Anna Vasku, Jindrich Spinar

ABSTRACT

The review presents basic information about the pulse pressure. The variables related to pulse pressure are briefly explained - arterial stiffness, arterial compliance, pulse wave velocity, pulse pressure amplification and augmentation index. We present some recent trials and observational studies that show the importance of pulse pressure in clinical practice. Briefly the possibilities of influencing the pulse pressure are discussed.

BACKGROUND

Pulse pressure (PP) is defined as the difference between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Physiologically, both pressures increase throughout life due to the increase of stroke volume and/or peripheral vascular resistance (PVR). In the sixth decade of age, the PP increases with increasing SBP and decreasing DBP due to an increase of arterial stiffness. The PP increase also leads to higher pulse wave velocity (PWV). Both PP and PWV are important independent prognostic markers of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The older people are, the more they are at risk of cardiovascular events, and the high prevalence of isolated systolic hypertension accompanied by a wide pulse pressure seems to be one of the most important factors.