ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION With aging, an increase in pulse pressure (PP) is very common. The primary reason for this evolution is the age-related development of arterial stiffness, which leads to an increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and a decrease in diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Clinical studies over the last 15 years conducted in various populations have demonstrated that taking into account PP values contributes to a better assessment of the risk of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. Although PP is an easily measurable parameter, which mainly reflects arterial stiffness, this may not be the case in very aged populations with multiple comorbidities and frailty and who are under multiplemedications. In these subjects, PP values can be lowered by comorbidities and therefore no longer reflect arterial stiffness and CV risk. As these populations have greatly increased in recent years, the need for complementary approaches for the assessment of arterial risk is further warranted. Analyses of pulse waveforms and evaluation of peripheral/central PP ratio (amplification) may be of particular interest in these cases.
