Capillary fragility in the elderly

Within-subject variation of capillary fragility with a 20 mmHg change in blood pressure has been studied in a series of elderly patients. Capillary fragility is increased by an average of 48% by a 20 mmHg rise in blood pressure. The reported association of capillarly fragility and blood pressure is thus artefactual rather than an indication of a higher prevalence of vascular abnormality in subjects with higher blood pressure.