Hemodynamic correlates of arterial compliance

Abstract

There is at present no good understanding of the exact clinical correlates of arterial compliance. The purpose of this study was to establish which hemodynamic variables are most strongly associated with compliance. Hemodynamic measurements were performed on 41 patients undergoing diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Cardiac outputs were determined by thermodilution, and pressures were measured in the ascending aorta with a catheter-tip manometer. Compliance was calculated from a mono-exponential fit of diastolic decay pressures. Pulse pressure(PP), stroke volume(SV), age, systolic blood pressure(SBP), and cardiac output(CO) were significantly related to compliance. The quotient SV/PP was a good estimate of compliance, as was a first-order function of both SV and PP. There appear to be specific clinical correlates of arterial compliance, as well as ways to estimate arterial compliance on the basis of conventional hemodynamic measurements when direct calculations are not possible.