Antihypertensive drugs and arterial stiffness.

Arterial stiffness is recognized as an important determinant of outcome in the hypertensive population. Although pulse pressure is an indirect index more recently relatively simple non-invasive techniques to measure pulse wave velocity, particularly in the aorta and arterial wave analysis have been developed and applied to clinical trials. There are clear differences in the effects of antihypertensive drugs on these parameters and stiffness is becoming a therapeutic target in its own right.