P3.25: The Effect of Diastolic Asymptotic Pressure on the Reservoir Pressure in Human

Background Arterial diastolic asymptotic pressure (P ∞ ) is the pressure reached when the heart stops beating. Determination of the reservoir pressure (P r ) requires a value of P ∞ which was previously assumed (1), calculated (2) and measured (3, 4) as 0, 35, 14, 24 mmHg respectively. The effects of varying P ∞ on the determination of P r is the primary objective of this study. Methods P r was calculated from the carotid pressure of 2003 subjects of the Asklepios study (a) using a free fitting algorithm for the determination of P ∞ and (b) setting P ∞ to the average of the experimental values (19 mmHg). Figure 1 Changes of PP r with age and gender using the free fitting algorithm (a) and 19mmHg (b). Results The reservoir pulse pressure (PP r ) is higher using the free fitting method than setting P ∞ (Fig 1). PP r increases significantly with age and is higher in male than female in both cases. Conclusions PP r is generally higher in male than female and its absolute value is dependant on the value of P ∞ . Higher values of PP r suggests deterioration of the arterial buffering function with age.