Blood flow and vascular resistance in lower limbs in hypertensives at rest and at reactive hyperaemia

The maximal decrease of vascular resistance during reactive hyperaemia in lower limb was investigated in a group of healthy control persons, in hypertensives (stage II) with blood pressure level over 160/95 mmHg, in hypertensives (stage II) with pressure level below 160/95 mmHg, and in patients with atherosclerotic changes in the lower-limb arteries without signs of obliteration. Insufficient distensibility was found not only in hypertensives with pressure over 160/95 mmHg, but also in those with a normal pressure level at the time of examination (achieved by antihypertensive therapy or bed rest). A similar insufficient distensibility was observed in patients with atherosclerotic changes in the lower-limb arteries without obliteration. The findings support the view that anatomical rebuilding of vascular wall takes place in hypertension, and suggest that the incapacity of maximal dilatation is characteristic not only of resistance vessels but probably of larger arteries as well.