RESTING HEART RATE AND ARTERIAL STIFFNESS: A LONGITUDINAL PROSPECTIVE STUDY IN A POPULATION OF HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

In hypertensive patients there is a significant relationship between basal resting HR and basal PWV as well as between the increase of HR and the increase of PWV during the follow-up period. Beyond age and BP, resting HR must be considered as an independent determinant of arterial stiffness. This represents a possible mechanism through which HR contributes to the increase in CV risk.