Carotid intima-media thickness is greater but carotid plaque prevalence is lower in black compared with white subjects.

Background And Purpose: Carotid IMT is widely used as a surrogate marker for atherosclerosis. Prospective studies in largely white populations demonstrate that it is strongly associated with carotid plaque and is an independent predictor of stroke. There are few data from black populations.

Ambulatory arterial stiffness index, pulse wave velocity and augmentation index--interchangeable or mutually exclusive measures?

Background: The ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) has been proposed as a novel measure of arterial stiffness and has been prospectively shown to predict stroke and cardiovascular death, but not cardiac death. This index has prompted considerable controversy as to whether it is a true measure of arterial stiffness.

Objective And Methods: The present study aimed to examine three different measures of arterial stiffness - pulse wave velocity (PWV; Complior), wave reflection [augmentation index (AIx)] and AASI - in a large hypertensive population, comparing their determinants and intercorrelations, both unadjusted and adjusted for confounders, and using Bland-Altman analysis to determine 95% confidence intervals for the ability of the AASI to predict PWV, the proposed gold standard of arterial stiffness.

Differences in stroke subtypes between black and white patients with stroke: the South London Ethnicity and Stroke Study.

Background: Determining whether the distribution of stroke subtypes differs between ethnic groups is important in understanding the mechanisms of the increased stroke incidence in black patients.

Methods And Results: In this study, 600 black and 600 white patients with stroke were prospectively and consecutively recruited to determine differences in stroke subtypes. The pathophysiological Trial of Org 10172 (TOAST) classification was used and compared with a clinical (Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project) subtype classification.

Circadian blood pressure variation: relationship between dipper status and measures of arterial stiffness.

Background: Compared with dippers, hypertensive individuals with a nondipping nocturnal blood pressure (BP) profile have more target organ damage and a worse cardiovascular prognosis, potentially mediated through arterial stiffness.

Objective: To examine arterial stiffness and dipping in a population of 314 untreated hypertensive individuals, mean age 48 +/- 8 years, 55% men.

Methods: Dipping was defined as a 10-20% fall in nocturnal BP; extreme dipping as greater than 20%, nondipping as less than 10%, and reverse-dipping as 0% at most fall in nocturnal BP.

Impact of smoking and smoking cessation on arterial stiffness and aortic wave reflection in hypertension.

Cigarette smoking is an important modifiable cardiovascular risk factor and pathophysiological mechanisms may include a stiff vascular tree. Although smokers have stiffer arteries, whether smoking cessation is associated with reduced arterial stiffness is not known. We compared never-treated patients with essential hypertension (n=554) aged 18 to 80 years (56% females) classified as current smokers (n=150), ex-smokers (n=136), and nonsmokers (n=268).