Cardiovascular Biomarkers - Iftikhar J. Kullo

Determinants of Arterial Function in Hypertension

The goal of this project is to identify factors that influence arterial function and determine the effect of arterial function on ventricular function. The study is being conducted in a well-characterized, community-based cohort of hypertensive sibships enrolled in the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy (GENOA) study.

Participants undergo a comprehensive vascular assessment, which includes:

• Systolic pulse contour analysis (central systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, forward wave amplitude, reflected wave amplitude and augmentation index)
• Aortic characteristic impedance (Zc)
• Pulse wave velocity (carotid-femoral and carotid-radial)
• Compliance calculations (including proximal and total aortic compliance)
• Endothelial function (evaluated by measuring brachial artery reactivity using vascular ultrasound)
• Left ventricular function (assessed by transthoracic echocardiography)