Pressure Wave Transmission along the Human Aorta: >CHANGES WITH AGE AND IN ARTERIAL DEGENERATIVE DISEASE

Pressure waves were recorded in the proximal aorta, iliac artery, and intermediate sites in 39 patients, aged 6 to 69 years, during diagnostic catheterization. In children, amplitude of the pressure wave increased progressively along the aorta, and a prominent diastolic wave appeared in the distal aorta and iliac artery. These changes in contour were associated with fluctuations in modulus and phase of the pressure wave harmonics. Alterations in the pressure wave during transmission became progressively less with increasing age, and the wave was transmitted virtually unchanged in the older patients with arterial degenerative disease. Percentage amplification (A) of the wave between aortic arch and iliac artery and age (x) were inversely related (A = 58.9 – 0.90x; P