Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Methods Study population 3 9 1 Table 1. Clinical and demographic data of NCCM patients  NCCM patients Age (years) 38 ± 16 Male (%) 8 (40) Diabetes (%) 1 (5) Index event Arrhythmia (%) 6 (30) Heart failure (%) 8 (40) Screening (%) 6 (30) Electrocardiogram Atrial fibrillation (%) 2 (10) LV hypertrophy (%) 3 (15) Left bundle branch block (%) 6 (30) NCCM Diagnostic criteria for NCCM 3 Blood pressure measurement Systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP and DBP, respectively) were measured in the supine position with an automatic mercury cuff sphygmomanometer from the left arm after 10 min of rest. The first and the fifth Koratkoff sounds were taken for the SBP and DBP. Blood pressure values were averaged from three consecutive measurements. None of the patients or controls used coffee or tea within 1 h before blood pressure measurements. Transthoracic echocardiography 3 1 Fig. 1 SD DD  Evaluation of aortic stiffness β Statistical analysis t p Reproducibility of echocardiographic measurements 10 Results Patient population 1 Transthoracic echocardiography 2 β β p 2 Table 2. Transthoracic echocardiographic and blood pressure data in NCCM patients and normal subjects  Group 1 (normal subjects) Group 2 (NCCM patients) LV end-diastolic diameter (mm) 47.4 ± 3.6 * LV end-systolic diameter (mm) 29.9 ± 2.9 * LV ejection fraction (%) 67.5 ± 5.9 * Systolic aortic diameter (mm) 26.7 ± 4.1 26.6 ± 4.4 Diastolic aortic diameter (mm) 23.3 ± 3.8 24.6 ± 4.3 Pulsatile change in aortic diameter (mm) 3.4 ± 1.1 * Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 125.2 ± 12.9 120.4 ± 17.4 Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) 77.8 ± 8.5 74.1 ± 9.6 Aortic pulse pressure (mmHg) 47.4 ± 8.7 46.3 ± 11.7 β 3.5 ± 1.1 * Continuous variables are given as mean ± standard deviation LV NCCM * p Fig. 2 β NCCM  Reproducibility p 3 4 p 3 4 Fig. 3 r p b r p NCCM  Fig. 4 b NCCM  Discussion 11 14 β 7 β 7 8 15 16 17 18 5 6 19 11 12 12 13 14 11 20 23 24 25 26 27 Study limitations 7 2 β Conclusions Increased aortic stiffness can be observed in patients with NCCM with moderate to severe HF. These alterations may be due to HF-induced neurohormonal changes.