Research Letters

Is vascular stiffness associated with the diameter of the abdominal aorta? SIR—Central aortic mechanical properties have been shown to be important for the general assessment of cardiovascular risk. Increased arterial stiffness is an independent marker of cardiovascular disease in hypertensive subjects and is linked to ventricular hypertrophy and atherosclerosis [1–3]. Ageing is linked to the change in arterial structural and functional capacities. The compliance of elastic arteries in the human body declines with age [4, 5], decreasing from child-hood [6] even in the absence of cardiovascular disease. In line with this process, aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) increases with age in both sexes [7, 8]. In particular, carotid-femoral PWV is lower than carotid brachio-radial artery PWV before the age of 50 but is higher afterwards resulting in a reversal o