Systolic Hypertension in Elderly Patients

Abstract

Pulsatile arterial hemodynamics in cardiovascular diseases indicate that the aortic blood pressure curve may be represented by 2 different phenotypes: one in patients 64 years old and younger and the other in subjects older than 65 years. The 2 blood pressure curves may have exactly the same mean arterial pressure (ie, the same cross-sectional area under the curve) but quite different shapes. In older subjects, systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure are higher, whereas diastolic blood pressure is lower than in younger subjects.