Enhanced brachial artery compliance following perindopril in essential hypertension

Brachial artery mean arterial pressure (MAP), blood flow velocity (BFV), blood flow (BF), and arterial compliance (AC) were measured using pulsed Doppler systems in patients with sustained essential hypertension. The hemodynamic investigation was performed before (T0) and after 3 months (T1) of chronic treatment with the converting enzyme inhibitor Perindopril and after a further month with placebo (T2). Following treatment with Perindopril, BFV, BF, and AC significantly increased while MAP significantly decreased. The changes in AC and BFV were negatively and significantly correlated both between T0 and T1 and between T1 and T2. The study showed that the increase in arterial compliance produced by Perindopril was inversely related to the extent of arteriolar dilatation, indicating that factors other than the blood pressure reduction itself were involved in the brachial artery changes.