This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. (from CRISP website) Congestive heart failure in the presence of normal or near normal left ventricular systolic function is referred to as diastolic heart failure. According to the applicant, it is thought that at least 50% of patients older than 65 years hospitalized with heart failure in 1995 (over 350,000 patients), had primary diastolic heart failure. Rates of re-hospitalization and costs associated with diastolic heart failure are equivalent to those of systolic heart failure, although mortality is lower. Despite its prevalence, the physiology of diastolic failure is poorly understood, the optimal diagnostic strategy has yet to be defined, and no therapy has been shown to lower the mortality of the disease. In this research study hypertensive patients over age 65 years and age-matched controls will be studied using non- invasive measurements of arterial stiffness and myocardial relaxation. The impact of various vasodilators on these outcomes will be tested in order to determine whether disparate pharmacological effects on arterial stiffness lead to different effects on myocardial relaxation.
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