Venous Distensibility in Essential Hypertension

Abstract

Forearm venous distensibility was measured in patients with essential hypertension and in normotensive subjects in both the horizontal and 60° feet-down positions. The hypertensive patients exhibited a reduced venous distensibility compared with the normal subjects and, furthermore, showed minimal change on being tilted, whereas distensibility decreased 27% in the normal subjects. Treatment of the hypertensives with various antihypertensive drugs increased venous distensibility above pre-treatment values. These findings indicate that a state of increased venomotor tone exists in essential hypertension.