In order to investigate the effects of arterial beds on pressure waveforms in arteries, the pressure waves observed in the rat tail artery were resolved into their Fourier moduli before and during ligation of the left renal artery and the superior mesenteric artery. Consistently different patterns of waveform changes in the tail artery were seen on occlusion of these vessels. Ligation of the renal artery reduced, and of the superior mesenteric artery increased, the pressure harmonics over most of the spectra. These results imply that to study the changes in the pressure contours as the observation point is moved downstream, one may have to account separately for the contributions of individual arterial beds. This is relevant in considering the degree to which it is appropriate for data to be amalgamated in models of the systemic arterial bed.

In hypertensive animals and humans, cardiac hypertrophy may occur as a consequence of an external load on the heart. Several studies have suggested that the non-pulsatile components of arterial haemodynamics, such as arterial pressure and vascular resistance, do not adequately represent the ventricular afterload and are not well correlated with the degree of cardiac hypertrophy (CH). The present study was undertaken to analyse the correlation between the degree of CH and various haemodynamic parameters in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) with established hypertension. A total of 36 SHRs (6-8 months) with a tail-cuff pressure above 190 mm Hg were used. Control data were obtained from 32 age-matched normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY). Animals were anaesthetized with pentobarbitone sodium (40 mg/kg i.p.) and artificially ventilated with a respirator. A Millar catheter with a high-fidelity pressure sensor was used to record the aortic pressure and an electromagnetic flow transducer to monitor the aortic flow. The pressure and flow signals were subjected to Fourier transformation for the analysis of the arterial impedance spectrum. The left ventricular weight-to-body weight ratio (LVW/BW) was taken as a measure of the degree of CH. The measured haemodynamic parameters in these anaesthetized, open-chest SHRs were systolic pressure (SP) (mean +/- SE) 172 +/- 4 mm Hg, diastolic pressure (DP), 120 +/- 3 mm Hg, pulse pressure (PP) 52 +/- 2 mm Hg, peripheral resistance (Rp) 344,032 +/- 8,012 dyne.s.cm-5, characteristic impedance (Zc) 6,442 +/- 313 dyne.s.cm-5, the impedance modulus at the first harmonic (Z1) 26,611 +/- 1,061 dyne.s.cm-5, mean arterial compliance (Cm) 0.87 +/- 0.04 microliter/mm Hg and LVW/BW 3.092 +/- 0.026 mg/g.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

1. This study was designed to determine how left ventricular relaxation function in patients with essential hypertension is impaired by arterial haemodynamic load that is increased in early ejection phase. These patients did not suffer from cardiac hypertrophy or disturbed coronary perfusion. We used a high-fidelity multisensor catheter to record pressure and flow signals in the ascending aorta. The timing and magnitude of wave reflection were obtained by decomposing the measured waves into their forward and backward components. Radionuclide angiography was employed to obtain the time-activity curve. The left ventricular relaxation function was assessed by analysing the time-activity curve, which was filtered using Fourier expansion with the number of harmonics for minimum error. 2. In comparison with age-matched normotensive subjects (seven subjects with mean blood pressure 97 mmHg), hypertensive subjects (seven subjects with mean blood pressure 138 mmHg) had a shorter backward wave arrival time (193 +/- 26 versus 258 +/- 35 ms) and a higher reflection factor (0.58 +/- 0.12 versus 0.42 +/- 0.07). Isovolumic relaxation period was prolonged in hypertensive subjects (118 +/- 19 versus 90 +/- 19 ms). There was an inverse correlation between isovolumic relaxation period and backward wave arrival time in all 14 subjects (r = -0.67, P < 0.05). In contrast, there were no significant differences in cardiac output and time to peak ejection rate between the two groups. 3. Our analyses revealed that early return of the enhanced wave reflection may profoundly impair left ventricular relaxation function in patients with hypertension.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)