Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. Abstracts e177 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved S A T U R D A Y P O S T E R S POSTER SESSION POSTERS’ SESSION PS11: LARGE ARTERIES PP.11.01 AORTIC PULSE WAVE VELOCITY IS RELATED TO CORONARY HEART DISEASE IN WOMEN BUT NOT IN MEN B. Hametner 1 , S. Parragh 1,2 , C. Mayer 1 , K. Whitelegg 3 , T. Weber 4 , S. Wassertheurer 1 . 1 AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Health & Environment Department, Vienna, AUSTRIA, 2 Vienna University of Technology, Department for Analysis and Sci- entific Computing, Vienna, AUSTRIA, 3 AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, In- novation Systems Department, Vienna, AUSTRIA, 4 Klinikum Wels-Grieskirchen, Cardiology Department, Wels, AUSTRIA Objective: Moderate age-dependent differences in aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) between females and males have been reported previously. Nevertheless, studies on gender-specific interactions of PWV and cardiovascular diseases are lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate age-dependent sex dif- ferences in PWV in relation to coronary heart disease (CHD). Design and method: A total of 645 patients from 60 to 79 years with suspected CHD underwent coronary angiography at the hospital in Wels-Grieskirchen (Austria). Invasive aortic PWV was measured in all patients by catheter pull- back. According to the indication of the angiography, patients were divided into four groups (male/female, CHD/noCHD). As PWV strongly depends on age, patients were divided in two decades of life for further statistical analysis (60–69 years, 70–79 years). For both sexes, groups with and without CHD were compared. To minimize the influence of blood pressure, in a second step PWV was corrected for invasive aortic systolic blood pressure (aoSBP) by linear regression. Results: For each decade and each group, values of aoSBP, PWV and corrected PWV (corrPWV) can be found in the table. In both decades, differences in PWV between CHD and noCHD were not significant in males (p > 0.1), whereas differ- ences were significant in females (p < 0.01). While aoSBP was significantly high- er for patients with CHD in both sexes in decade 60–69 (p < 0.05), no significant differences could be found for patients aged 70–79 (p > 0.1). After accounting for unequal pressure levels, for females the differences in corrPWV between CHD and noCHD were still significant (p < 0.05), while they remained not statistically significant for males (p > 0.1). Conclusions: In patients with suspected coronary heart disease, pulse wave ve- locity is related to CHD in women but not in men. Blood pressure differences could not explain these results, as the effects remained when PWV was corrected for aortic systolic blood pressure. This finding indicates that a sex-dependent in- terplay between arterial stiffness and CHD is present which needs future attention. PP.11.02 FIBROMUSCULAR DYSPLASIA: RESULTS OF A MULTICENTRE STUDY IN FLANDERS M. De Groote 1 , B. Callewaert 1 , D. Hemelsoet 1 , F. Vermassen 1 , J.M. Billiouw 3 , A. De Vriese 4 , I Montag 5 , P. Van der Niepen 2 , T. De Backer 1 . 1 UZ Ghent, Ghent, BELGIUM, 2 UZ Brussels, Brussels, BELGIUM, 3 OLV Aalst, Aalst, BELGIUM, 4 AZ Sint-Jan, Bruges, BELGIUM, 5 AZ Sint-Lucas, Ghent, BELGIUM Objective: Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is an idiopathic, segmental, nonin- flammatory, nonatherosclerotic vascular disease, which results in arterial narrow- ing of small and medium-sized vessels. The last years new perspectives of the disease have opened up thanks to the systematically recording of FMD patient’s data in central databases in the US and France. The main objectives of this mul- ticentre study were to discover the epidemiology, vascular involvement, clinical manifestations and management of FMD patients in Flanders. Later on, these results will be compared to those of the French & US Registry to discover new insights about the disease. Design and method: Multicentre study at 5 different hospitals in Flanders. 123 FMD patients were included in the database. Patients were eligible for enrolment if they were adults (18+ years old), diagnosis of FMD was confirmed using medi- cal imaging and permission was given by written informed consent. Results: Patients were on average 57.3 years (SD 15.8) when FMD was first diag- nosed. 83.7% were female. Arterial hypertension (38.5%) was the most frequent symptom leading to diagnosis of FMD. Neurological complaints such as head- ache (26.4%), vertigo and/or balancing problems (23.1%) and a cervical bruit 17.5%) were also common. Ten patients (8.3%) had no symptoms at the time of diagnosis. Vascular events and complications as a result of FMD occurred in a minority of patients (21.1%). Cerebrovascular involvement (81.8%) was nearly as frequent as renovascular FMD (85.3%). In 25 of 60 (41.7%) patient having two or more vascular beds imaged, co-existent FMD was found in at least two vascular beds. Digital subtraction angiography was the preferred technique for detecting FMD related lesions. The majority of the patients was pharmacologically treated (86.3%), 25.9% of them underwent an endovascular treatment. Conclusions: This study confirmed the finding that FMD is a disorder of mostly middle-aged people, but can be found in any age group. The carotid/vertebral arteries were nearly as frequently involved as the renovascular bed. Symptoms as a result of FMD were highly variable, with FMD incidentally discovered in a minority of all patients. PP.11.03 MICRORNA-21 AS A PROGNOSTIC MARKER OF IMPROVEMENT IN ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IN WELL- CONTROLLED ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION M. Marketou 1 , F. Parthenakis 1 , J. Kontaraki 2 , A. Patrianakos 1 , H. Nakou 1 , M. Touloupaki 1 , M. Vernardos 1 , J. Logakis 1 , D. Vougia 1 , P. Vardas 1 . 1 Cardiology Dept.., Heraklion University Hospital, Crete, Heraklion, GREECE, 2 Molecular Car- diology Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, GREECE Objective: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in myocardial and vascular remodeling and have emerged as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers or as therapeutic targets. We aimed to investigate the expression profile of selected miRNAs in the peripheral blood of patients with well-controlled essential hyper- tension in relation to arterial stiffness. Design and method: Expression levels of miRNAs miRNA-1, miRNA-133a, miRNA-26b, miRNA-208b, miRNA-499, and miRNA-21 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were quantified by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) and carotid radial PWV (cr-PWV) were evaluated at baseline and after 1 year’s effective antihyper- tensive therapy. Results: A total of 95 patients (50 men, mean age 62 ± 9 years) with well- controlled essential hypertension were included in the analysis. Only miRNA-21