Arterial Destiffening in Previously Untreated Mild Hypertensives After 1 Year of Routine Clinical Management

BACKGROUND Arterial stiffness, measured with pulse wave velocity (PWV), is now classified as a marker of target organ damage (TOD) alongside left ventricular hypertrophy and moderately increased albuminuria. Interventional studies on treated hypertensive patients have shown that PWV could be improved. Our aim was to assess changes in arterial stiffness after 1 year of routine clinical practice in never-treated hypertensive patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We studied 356 never-treated patients with suspected hypertension. After standard clinical assessment during which presence of TOD was evaluated, hypertension diagnosis was confirmed in 231 subjects who subsequently received standard routine…