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Associations of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity with left atrial stiffness and left atrial phasic function in inpatients with hypertension

Hypertension Research volume 46, pages 2378–2387 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Hypertension induces left atrial (LA) and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, and an increase in arterial stiffness. This study aimed to investigate the associations of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) with LA stiffness and LA phasic function in hypertension. A total of 305 hypertensive inpatients enrolled and were divided into two groups based on baPWV [Group I, baPWV ≤ 1515 (cm/s), n = 153; Group II, baPWV > 1515 (cm/s), n = 152]. Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) based LA phasic strains (LAS-S, LAS-E, LAS-A) and LV global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) were evaluated. LA stiffness index (LASI) was defined as the ratio of E/eʹ to LAS-S. Multivariate linear regression modeling was used to analyze the associations of baPWV with LASI and LA phasic function in all patients as well as age-specific and sex-specific subgroups. LASI was significantly higher in Group II [0.35(0.26, 0.52)] compared with Group I [0.26(0.20, 0.36)] (P < 0.001). After adjusting cardiovascular risk factors, medication, and LV structural and functional parameters (LVEF, LVMI, E/A ratio, and LVGLS), baPWV remained significantly correlated with LASI (P < 0.05). We also evaluated the predictive value of baPWV for LASI, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.663 (95% CI: 0.607–0.716, P < 0.001). In conclusion, BaPWV was independently associated with LA stiffness in hypertensive inpatients. BaPWV also exhibited a certain predictive value for LA stiffness in these inpatients. Measuring arterial stiffness can provide clinicians clues for early cardiac target organ damage (TOD) in addition to vascular TOD.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate all the participants, and we also thank all staff in the Department of Hypertension and Heart Failure at the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University.

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The opinions, results, and conclusions are those of the authors and are independent from this funding and data sources.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Tingting Fu, Yu Pan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, China

    Tingting Fu, Yu Pan, Qiaobing Sun, Xiujie Zhang, Tao Cong, Yinong Jiang & Yan Liu

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Correspondence to Tao Cong, Yinong Jiang or Yan Liu.

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Fu, T., Pan, Y., Sun, Q. et al. Associations of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity with left atrial stiffness and left atrial phasic function in inpatients with hypertension. Hypertens Res 46, 2378–2387 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01390-z

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