Cardoso CRL, Salles GF, et al. - In patients with resistant hypertension, reducing or preventing progression of aortic stiffness was shown to be linked with significant cardiovascular protection, implying that it could serve as an additional clinical target of antihypertensive treatment.

• In a prospective cohort of 442 resistant hypertension individuals, the prognostic value of changes in aortic stiffness was assessed for the occurrence of adverse cardiovascular outcomes and mortality.

• Via 2 carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV) measurements, performed over a median time interval of 4.7 years, the alterations in aortic stiffness were evaluated.

• Increases in absolute and relative changes in CF-PWV (as continuous variables) were found to be linked with higher risks of cardiovascular events (CVEs) and major adverse CVEs occurrence, but not of mortality.

• Among quartiles of CF-PWV changes, increments in the risks were evident in the third and fourth quartile subgroups in relation to the reference first quartile subgroup (those with greatest CF-PWV decreases) for all outcomes.

• Excess risks of cardiovascular morbidity/mortality were observed in patients who either increased or persisted with high CF-PWV, with hazard ratios ranging from 2.7 to 3.0, in relation to those who decreased or persisted with low CF-PWV values.