Longitudinal Prestrain In Male Abdominal Aorta From Pulse Wave Velocity Viewpoint

Arteries in situ are subjected to the pretension developed upon the growth period. The magnitude of the pretension was shown to be age-dependent. Detailed statistics are, however, rare. This study was designed to expand our knowledge of the prestrain sustained by arteries during the lifespan. Age-related distribution of the longitudinal prestrain in the male abdominal aorta obtained within 93 regular autopsies is shown (age = 41.6 +/- 15.8 years; prestretch = -1.174 +/- 0.099). Data indicate that the prestrain decreases nonlinearly during the aging. Bilinear regression function revealed the breakpoint in the prestrain-age dependency at age about 40. The comparison of this result with studies which document the nonlinearity in the pulse wave velocity-age dependency indicates that steep increase of the velocity is preceded by the loss of the pretension. It suggests that the pretension could play a compensation role within artery stiffening.