Interplay between arterial stiffness and diastolic function: a marker of ventricular-vascular coupling.

Aims: We evaluated the interplay between left ventricular diastolic function and large-artery stiffness in asymptomatic patients at increased risk of heart failure and no structural heart disease (Stage A).

Methods: We divided 127 consecutive patients (mean age 49 ± 17 years) with risk factors for heart failure who were referred to our laboratory to rule out structural heart disease into two groups according to presence (Group 1, n = 35) or absence (Group 2, n = 92) of grade I left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Doppler imaging with high-resolution echo-tracking software was used to measure intima-media thickness (IMT) and stiffness of carotid arteries.