Arterial Stiffness, Central Pulsatile Hemodynamic Load, and Orthostatic Hypotension

The association between central pulsatile hemodynamic load, arterial stiffness, and orthostatic hypotension ( OH ) is unclear. The authors recruited 1099 participants from the community. Questionnaire, physical examination, and laboratory tests were performed. To assess the correlation between central pulsatile hemodynamic load, arterial stiffness, and OH , multiple logistic regression analysis was performed, and the discriminatory power was assessed by the area under the receiver operating curve . The prevalence of OH in this population was 5.6%. After adjusting for potential confounders, brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity (Ba PWV ) was significantly and positively correlated with OH in both the hypertension and nonhypertension groups (all P< .05), while central systolic blood pressure ( CSBP ) was only significantly associated with OH in the hypertension subgroup. In addition, Ba PWV seemed to have a better discriminatory power than CSBP in both subgroups. Ba PWV appears to be a better indicator of OH than CSBP in routine clinical practice.