When primary hyperparathyroidism was a more symptomatic disease, it was often associated with increased cardiovascular risk. As the clinical manifestations of the disease have changed to a milder, more asymptomatic disorder, investigation is shifting to more subtle cardiovascular abnormalities. We measured arterial stiffness in 39 patients with mild primary hyperparathyroidism [serum calcium, 2.66 +/- 0.2 mmol/liter (10.7 +/- 0.6 mg/dl); PTH, 21.7 +/- 9.5 pmol/liter (89 +/- 39 pg/ml)] and in 134 controls. Arterial stiffness was measured mathematically at the radial artery with a noninvasive device as the "augmentation index" (AIx). The AIx measures the difference between the second and first systolic peaks in the pressure waveform and correlates with increased cardiovascular risk. When physiological variables affecting augmentation index and potentially confounding cardiovascular risk factors (age, gender, heart rate, height, blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and hyperlipidemia) were adjusted for, primary hyperparathyroidism was an independent predictor of increased augmentation index (B = 3.37; P < 0.03). A matched-pair analysis showed that 15% of the variance in AIx was uniquely accounted for by the presence of primary hyperparathyroidism. The presence of primary hyperparathyroidism was a stronger predictor of elevated AIx than age, gender, smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or diabetes mellitus. AIx was also directly correlated with evidence of more active parathyroid disease, including higher PTH levels (r = +0.42; P < 0.05) and lower bone mineral density at the distal one-third radius (r = -0.33; P < 0.05). The diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism was therefore an independent predictor of increased AIx, an early measure of arterial stiffness, and the increase was associated with evidence of more active parathyroid disease.