Isolated Systolic Hypertension and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in the Elderly: Initial Findings From the Cardiovascular Health Study

Bruce M. Psaty, Curt D. Furberg, Lewis H. Kuller, Nemat O. Borhani, Pentti M. Rautaharju, Daniel H. O’leary, Diane E. Bild, John Robbins, Linda P. Fried, Cheryl Reid

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

174 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective.—To assess the association between isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) and subclinical disease in adults aged 65 years and above. Design.—Medicare eligibility lists were used to obtain a representative sample of 5201 community-dwelling elderly persons for the Cardiovascular Health Study, a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute—sponsored cohort study of risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke. In this cross-sectional analysis of baseline data, we excluded 3012 participants who were receiving antihypertensive medications, had clinical cardiovascular disease, or had a diastolic blood pressure of at least 90 mm Hg. Main Outcome Measures.—For electrocardiogram: myocardial infarction, left ventricular hypertrophy, and left ventricular mass as measures of myocardial damage and strain; for echocardiography: left ventricular mass, fractional shortening, and Doppler flow velocities as measures of cardiac systolic and diastolic function; and for carotid sonography: carotid arterial intima-media thickness as a measure of atherosclerosis. Results.—Among the 2189 men and women in this analysis, 195 (9%) had ISH (systolic blood pressure, ≥160 mm Hg) and 596 (23%) had borderline ISH (systolic blood pressure, 140 to 159 mm Hg). Systolic blood pressure was associated with myocardial infarction by electrocardiogram (P=.02). Borderline and definite ISH were strongly associated with left ventricular mass (P<.001). While there was little association with cardiac systolic function, borderline and definite ISH were associated with cardiac diastolic function (P<.001). Isolated systolic hypertension was also strongly associated with increased intima-media thickness of the carotid artery (P<.001). Conclusions.—While cohort analyses of future repeated measures will provide a better assessment of risk, both borderline and definite ISH were strongly related to a variety of measures of subclinical disease in elderly men and women.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1287-1291
Number of pages5
JournalJAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
Volume268
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 9 1992
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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