Doppler indices of left ventricular diastolic filling are associated with various cardiac and extracardiac factors. Afterload is one of the extracardiac factors influencing left ventricular diastolic filling. The distensibility of the great arteries is one of the components of afterload. In this study, the relation between Doppler indices of left ventricular filling and the distensibility of the common carotid arteries was investigated. We studied 237 subjects at 50 years of age with Doppler echocardiography and ultrasound examination of the common carotid arteries. The following Doppler indices of left ventricular filling were studied: peak early diastolic velocity E-wave, peak atrial diastolic velocity A-wave and early to atrial peak velocity ratio, E/A. Carotid arterial characteristics were: distensibility coefficient, carotid arterial diameter change in systole and fractional change in the carotid arterial diameter. The relation between Doppler indices of left ventricular filling and carotid arterial characteristics was assessed by univariate and multivariate regression analysis. There was a significant univariate, positive association between E/A ratio and carotid arterial distensibility (r = 0.27, P