J Korean Soc Hypertens.  2012 Mar;18(1):29-37. 10.5646/jksh.2012.18.1.29.

Association between Pulse Pressure and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Healthy Adolescents: Jangseong High School Study

• Choi DP
• Lee JY
• Ahn V
• Kim HC

• KMID: 1966638
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5646/jksh.2012.18.1.29

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Wide pulse pressure associates with atherosclerosis, but it is unclear whether pulse pressure within a relatively normal range is associated with atherosclerosis in younger populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between pulse pressure and the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in healthy adolescents.
METHODS
Study participants included 250 (129 males and 121 females) adolescents who were 17 to 19 years old and in the third grade of a high school in Jangseong, Korea between November 20 and December 1, 2009. Pulse pressure was determined as the difference between systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure which were measured with an oscillometric sphygmomanometer. IMT values were ultrasonographically measured at right and left common carotid arteries, and average of the mean IMT at each artery was used for analysis.
RESULTS
There was a significant correlation between pulse pressure and carotid IMT before (Pearson coefficient r = 0.2037, p = 0.001) and after (r = 0.1479, p = 0.020) adjustment for sex. When adjusted for sex, age, waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, and total/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, 10 mm Hg increase in pulse pressure was associated with increase of IMT in total (beta = 10.9 microm, p = 0.003), in males (beta = 17.3 microm, p < 0.001), but not in females (beta = 3.609 microm, p = 0.518).
CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that higher pulse pressure may be associated with increased carotid IMT even in healthy male adolescents.

Keyword

Pulse pressure; Carotid intima-media thickness; Adolescent

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Arteries
Atherosclerosis
Blood Glucose
Blood Pressure
Carotid Artery, Common
Carotid Intima-Media Thickness
Cholesterol
Fasting
Female
Humans
Korea
Lipoproteins
Male
Reference Values
Sphygmomanometers
Waist Circumference
Blood Glucose
Cholesterol
Lipoproteins

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) across pulse pressure quintiles. Columns indicate mean levels and lines indicate standard errors.

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