Pulse wave velocity to global longitudinal strain ratio in hypertension

Background: Arterial elastance to left ventricular elastance ratio assessed by echocardiography is widely used as a marker of ventricular-arterial coupling. Materials and methods: We investigated whether the ratio of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, as a marker of arterial stiffness, to global longitudinal strain, as a marker of left ventricular performance, could be better associated with vascular and cardiac damage than the established arterial elastance/left ventricular elastance index. In 299 newly-diagnosed untreated hypertensives we measured, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, and carotid intima-media thickness, coronary-flow reserve, arterial elastance/left ventricular elastance, global longitudinal strain, and markers of left ventricular diastolic function (E/A and E’) by echocardiography. Results: Pulse wave velocity-to-global longitudinal strain ratio (PWV/GLS) was lower in hypertensives than controls (−0.61 ± 0.21 vs −0.45 ± 0.11 m/sec%, P 0.9 mm (P = 0.003), E/A ≤ 0.8 (P = 0.019) and E’ ≤ 9 cm/sec (P = 0.002) and coronary-flow reserve