Pulse Pressure

I'm a 55-year old female with a history of two heart surgeries. The first operation was a commissurotomy in 1976 and then an aortic valve replacement/aneurysm repair in 1999.  (I was born with bicuspid aortic valve and have been told I have connective tissue disease.)

All's going pretty well but I'm being watched for an ascending aortic aneurysm (last year it was 4.4 cm) and also aneurysms of the braciocephalic artery as well as the left common carotid and the origin of the left subclavian arteries.

I've read recently about what the pulse pressure can tell about our heart health.  I understand that normal pulse pressure should run around 40, but mine tends to run anywhere in the 50s all the way up to the high 70s. I've had readings as high as 170/70 but I think that was an anomaly. My systolic BP can get high but the diastolic hardly ever goes over 80. I am on Coreg to control the BP.

Is there a problem with the pulse pressure often getting up as high as the 70s? My aneurysm has thankfully stayed at the same size for the last four years so I'm wondering if it could impact that.  

Thanks for any information!

[CCFheartMD11]

A wide pulse pressure can indicate a leaky aortic valve, but it can also be seen in hypertension. Given your history of an ascending aortic aneurysm, it wouldn't be unreasonable to have an echocardiogram to look for aortic regurgitation, since one can cause the other. Sometimes, replaced aortic valves become leaky as they get older. It sounds like this could just be from poorly controlled blood pressure, though, and with appropriate BP meds, your systolic should come down and your pulse pressure will be smaller.

[DavesMom]

Thanks so much for your informative reply.  I'll have my yearly echo in May so we'll see how things are then.

Thanks again.