| Summary: | Purpose: Changes in myocardial and arterial wall properties/function are consistently reported in patients with established cardiovascular disease1. However, few studies have reported these changes in early subclinical disease. The aim of the present study was to examine cardiac and vascular changes in early subclinical disease and to determine whether these changes occur in parallel.
Methods: For this study, 98 healthy lifelong never smokers were recruited. Subjects were categorised as having normal (Norm, n=71) or abnormal (High. n=27) arterial stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, PWV Vicorder, Skidmore, UK) for their age and blood pressure. M-mode Doppler echocardiography (Vivid 7 Dimension, GE, USA) was used to assess heart structure (interventricular septal thickness, IVSd left ventricular internal diameter, LVIDd left ventricular posterior wall thickness, LVPW left ventricular mass, LV Mass) and function (left ventricular isovolumetric relaxation time, LV IVRT mitral valve early/late filling velocity, MV E/A).
Results: No differences in age (39+//0–9 v 39+//0–9 years P 0.87) or BMI (24.85+//0–3.29 v 25.75+//0–3.68 kg.m2 P 0.24) were observed. No differences in IVSd (0.86+//0–0.15 v 0.85+//0–0.18 cm P 0.64), LVIDd (4.98+//0–0.55 v 4.96+//0–0.42 cm P 0.95), LVPWd (0.81+//0–0.17 v 0.90+//0–0.21 cm P 0.05) or LV Mass (168.86+//0–56.85 v 182.61+//0–61.70 g P 0.43) were observed. However, MV E/A (1.85+//0–0.51 v 1.48+//0–0.51 P 0.0004), but not LV IVRT (0.09+//0–0.02 v 0.09+//0–0.01 P 0.25), was different.
Conclusions: Changes in cardiac function are observed before alterations in cardiac structure in healthy subjects with premature vascular stiffening.
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