We observed 2123 subjects from two adjacent cities in the north of Portugal (Guimarães/Vizela) randomly selected from the population to include a cohort representative of age and gender distribution. We evaluated their clinical and metabolic characteristics. Relevant family history (FH) of cardiovascular events (CVE), Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) and Central Blood Pressure measurements were collected. We considered positive FH (PFH) for CVE whenever one subject had two first degree family members with positive CVE history or one first degree relative with a premature CVE. Our goal is to understand if a PFH of CVE influences arterial stiffness (AS) / central hemodynamic parameters, increasing CV risk.

We found 227 subjects with strong PFH for CVE (61.2% females; mean global age of 65.5 years); they presented the following global mean values: PWV – 9.0 m/sec; Central SBP (cSBP) 134.0 mmHg; Central DBP (cDBP) – 79.6 mmHg; Central Pulse Pressure (cPP) – 54.5 mmHg; Augmentation Index (AI) – 34.1. When comparing these mean values with the ones of the remaining study population, we could find significant difference concerning PWV/ cSBP/ cDBP/ cPP / AI. When analysing the differences (concerning these variables) between the general population and the PFH population after dividing them by age classes, we could see that almost statistically significant differences (p values ranging from 0.07 and 0.13) could only be recorded consistently in the 40–49 age class concerning PWV/ cSBP/ cPP / AI. Authors discuss the relevance of these findings concerning risk stratification in a Portuguese population with high incidence of stroke.