Abstract-Exercise intolerance and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction are common in females. Recently, arterial stiffness has been suggested to be a significant contributor in the development of heart failure. How gender difference affects arterial stiffening and its response to exercise is not well known. We hypothesized that arterial elastance index during exercise would be more abnormal in females with hypertension than males. Arterial elastance index was estimated as arterial end systolic pressure/stroke volume controlled for body surface area and was measured at rest and during graded supine bicycle exercise (25 watts, 3-minute increments) in 298 patients with hypertension (149 males; 149 females; mean age, 59). The subjects were divided into 2 groups by gender. Exercise duration was significantly shorter in females compared to males (692Ϯ222 versus 483Ϯ128 seconds, PϽ0.001). Although arterial elastance index at baseline was significantly higher in males, the magnitude of increase was steeper in females with the magnitude of change at 75 W of exercise being significantly higher in females compared to males (0.69Ϯ0.83 versus 0.43Ϯ0.69, Pϭ0.018). Arterial elastance index at each stage of exercise up to 75 W was independently associated with decreased exercise duration. In conclusion, despite lower arterial elastance index at rest, the increase during exercise was steeper in women with hypertension, suggesting a gender-related difference in dynamic arterial stiffness. The arterial elastance index during exercise was significantly associated with exercise duration in patients with hypertension. Key Words: gender Ⅲ arterial elastance index Ⅲ exercise Ⅲ hypertension Ⅲ heart failure I n epidemiology studies, nearly 50% of patients with heart failure have preserved ejection fraction and hypertension is considered to be the most important cause of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Interestingly, advanced age and the female gender are known to be associated with development of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction because the prevalence of heart failure with ejection fraction increases sharply with age than systolic heart failure, especially in females. 1,2 Recently, arterial stiffness has been suggested to be a significant contributor in the development of heart failure. 3,4 Increased aortic stiffness in subjects contributed to increased afterload to the heart while reducing coronary perfusion pressure during diastole. 3,4 Greater aortic stiffness may increase myocardial stiffness and left ventricular (LV) diastolic filling pressure, which may be exaggerated during exercise. 5 How gender difference affects arterial stiffening and its response to exercise is not well known; therefore, we hypothesized that arterial elastance index (EaI) during exercise would be more abnormal in female patients with hypertension compared to males.
Methods
Study PopulationSymptom-limited supine bicycle exercise (25 Watts, 3-minute increments) with simultaneous 2-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography ...