The Relationship Between Elevated Pulse Pressure and Natriuretic Peptide

Abstract

Pulse pressure (PP) measured as the difference between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) increases markedly after the age of fifty because of the increase of arterial stiffness with age which leads to progressive increase of SBP and decrease of DBP. Natriuretic hormones are used as biological markers in the early diagnosis of chronic heart failure (CHF) and can also be used in routine practice simply by determining pulse pressure, i.e. increased BP indicates arterial stiffness, ventricular relaxation is impaired and diastolic heart dysfunction (DHD) develops. The diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction is difficult to determine as it is almost asymptomatic and patients come to the doctor at a later stage when systolic circulatory failure develops. The aim of the study was to determine the association between elevated PP and the level of brain natriuretic peptide ( BNP) in plasma.