Evaluating daily profile of central aortic pressure and reflected pulse wave parameters in climacteric women

Structural and functional changes of the vascular wall in women occur already at the very early stages of reproductive aging. An emergence of applanation tonometry made it possible to evaluate arterial stiffness and central hemodynamic parameters non-invasively, which considerably expanded the information that had been provided previously by invasive methods used for studying these parameters during cardiac catheterization. Whereas a few studies have assessed central aortic pressure (CAP) parameters and reflected pulse wave in women at different phases of their reproductive aging, none investigated the daily profile of CAP and reflected pulse wave parameters in women undergoing different stages of the menopause.

assessment of the daily variability in CAP and daily profile of amplification and augmentation of pulse blood pressure (PBP) in women at different menopause phases.

The study involved 384 climacteric women. The first group included 168 women undergoing perimenopause, the second group comprised of 216 women in their early postmenopausal stage. A 24-h blood pressure (BP) monitoring in the brachial artery and aorta (BPLab® Vasotens® system, Petr Telegin LLC, Russia) was performed via the measurements of the following indicators: systolic blood pressure (SBP), pulse blood pressure (PBP), central aortic systolic pressure (CASP), central aortic pulse pressure (CAPP), aortic augmentation index (AIxao), and pulse pressure amplification (PPA).

When investigating PPA values in the brachial artery and aorta, we detected smaller amplification and higher aortic augmentation index at night than in daytime, which reflected a disproportionately higher CAP level during night hours. This pattern was more pronounced in postmenopausal women. We calculated the logistic regression equation (adjusted R² = 0.49, log-likelihood = - 50.3, chi-square (19) = 97.6, p < 0.001), in which dependent variable was represented by the menopausal status, whereas body mass index with all indicators of a 24-h BP monitoring represented independent variables. In this model, two indicators (body mass index and AIxao) were, independently of each other, associated significantly with the menopause phases. Differences among women at various climacteric phases in terms of remaining indicators of a 24-h BP monitoring, apparently, matched the differences in their body mass index values.

Rising CAP, in combination with declining PPA and augmenting reflected pulse wave amplitude, may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular complications.