Abstract #0875

Chang Y, Arena R, Fei D, Kraft K

We tested the hypothesis that MR-derived central arterial stiffness, as determined by aortic wave velocity (AWV) measurements, would differ across the adult age span in the following 3 groups: healthy sedentary, healthy athletic and persons with systolic hypertension. A total of 275 men and women (ages 21 84 years) underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing and AWV measurements using rapid-acquisition MR sequences. Consistent with our hypothesis, the mean AWV was significantly different for each group, with athletes exhibiting the lowest, and hypertensives the highest average aortic wave velocities.