Background: Measurements of blood pressure (BP) together with applanation tonometry at the radial and femoral arteries allow for reproducible assessments of various indexes of arterial stiffness, including peripheral (PPp) and central (PPc) pulse pressures, peripheral (AIp) and central (AIc) augmentation indexes, and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV). In the absence of an outcome-driven and ethnicity-specific reference frame, we defined preliminary diagnostic thresholds for subjects of African descent living in Africa, using the distributional characteristics of these hemodynamic measurements. Methods: We randomly recruited 347 subjects from a South African population of African origins. The PPp was the average difference between systolic and diastolic BP measured five times consecutively at one home visit. For measurement of PPc, AIp, AI c, and PWV, we used a high-fidelity micromanometer interfaced with a laptop computer running the SphygmoCor software. For analyses we selected 185 subjects without hypertension, diabetes, and previous or concomitant cardiovascular disease. Results: Mean age (33.5 years) was similar in 77 men and 108 women. The PPp, PPc, AIp, AIc, and PWV significantly increased with age. The 95th prediction bands of this relation at age 30 years, approximated to 70 mm Hg for PPp, 50 mm Hg for PPc, 100% for AIp, 40% for AIc, and 8.0 m/sec for PWV. The aforementioned thresholds would need adjustment by approximately 2.5 mm Hg, 4.0 mm Hg, 10%, 6%, and 1.0 m/sec, respectively, for each decade that age differs from 30 years. Conclusions: Pending validation in prospective outcome-based studies 70 mm Hg for PPp, 50 mm Hg for PPc, 100% for AIp, 40% for AIc, and 8.0 m/sec might be considered as preliminary thresholds to diagnose increased arterial stiffness in young adult subjects of African descent. © 2006 American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd.
