Central Blood Pressure and End-organ Damage

While the majority of cross-sectional publications report that central blood pressure (BP) is more closely associated with end organ damage, which includes left ventricular hypertrophy, carotid atherosclerosis, and brain and renal damage, than is peripheral BP, the superiority of central BP over peripheral BP has not been consistently observed in recent studies. This discrepancy may be due to a recent finding demonstrating the negative impact of obesity and obesity-related disorders on central BP. Longitudinal studies are therefore necessary to demonstrate the clinical usefulness of central over peripheral BP in assessing the progression of end-organ damage.