Pulse pressure: an independent predictor of coronary and stroke mortality in elderly females from the general population.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether pulse pressure is an independent risk factor for coronary and stroke mortality in 3282 subjects (1281 males and 2001 females) aged +/- 65 years, taking part in the CArdiovascular STudy in the Elderly (CASTEL). After dividing subjects into tertiles of pulse pressure, adjusted relative risk (RR) and confidence intervals (CI) for 14-year coronary and stroke mortality was evaluated for each tertile. Among females, coronary mortality rate was 2.7% in the first tertile of pulse pressure, 4.7% in the second (RR 1.38, 95% CI [1.15-2.66]) and 6.2% in the third (RR 2, CI [1.20-3.51]). Stroke mortality was 3.6%, 4.1% (RR 1.23, CI [1.02-2.23]) and 8.3% (RR 2.27, CI [1.37-3.74]), respectively. This trend was recognizable in normotensive, borderline and sustained hypertensive women, where mortality increased with rising pulse pressure. No relationship was found between pulse pressure and mortality in males. In elderly women, pulse pressure was a good predictor of coronary and stroke mortality, even superior to the label of hypertension. No matter how any given pulse pressure level was obtained, it was more predictive of both coronary and cerebrovascular mortality than belonging to a normo- or hypertensive category.