Premium
Transcutaneous Measurement of Arterial Wall Properties As a Potential Method of Estimating Aging *
Author(s) -
MOZERSKY DAVID J.,
SUMNER DAVID S.,
HOKANSON D. E.,
STRANDNESS D. E.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1973.tb00842.x
Subject(s) - medicine , arterial stiffness , arterial wall , cuff , blood pressure , pulse wave velocity , brachial artery , femoral artery , age groups , pulse pressure , cardiology , nuclear medicine , anatomy , surgery , demography , sociology
The visco‐elastic properties of arterial walls vary with the structural alterations which occur secondary to aging. An ultrasonic echo‐tracking device developed in this laboratory was used for noninvasive estimation of these properties. Femoral artery compliance (% Δ V/V) and pressure strain elastic modulus (Ep) were estimated in 36 normal subjects (68 vessels). The subjects were divided into three groups according to age: <35, 35–60, >60. The femoral arterial diameter and changes in diameter with each pulse beat were measured transcutaneously with the echo‐tracking device. Brachial arterial blood pressure was obtained by means of a cuff and stethoscope. The results showed a progressive increase in Ep and a complementary decrease in % Δ V/V with increasing age. Ep varied from 2.64 dynes/cm 2 ± 0.26 SEM in the young group to 6.28 dynes/cm 2 ± 1.03 SEM in the old group. % Δ V/V varied from 6.0% ± 0.5 SEM in the young group to 3.3% ± 10.5 SEM in the old group. Statistical comparisons of Ep showed significant differences between the groups, indicating that arterial stiffness increases with age. % Δ V/V was significantly lower in the old group than in the young. Variation within groups increased markedly with advancing age, and values for Ep and % Δ V/V overlapped in all groups.