Nocturnal hypertensive and normotensive subjects: assessment of arterial stiffness by 24-hs ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

PEREZ LLORET, SANTIAGO; DRUCAROFF, LUCAS JAVIER; CARDINALI, DANIEL P.; SÁNCHEZ, RAMIRO; RAMÍREZ, AGUSTÍN

Milán

Congreso; 17th European Meeting of Hypertension; 2007

European Society of Hypertension (ESH)

Background: Nocturnal hypertension, male gender, age and arterial stiffness are important risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Aims: To assess the arterial stiffness, evaluated by the Ambulatory Arterial Stiffness Index (AASI), in nocturnal hypertensive or normotensive men and women over 40 years of age.. Methods: 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed in 144 men and 137 women. Eighty-eight subjects were between 40 and 49 years old (53% men), 98 were between 50 and 59 years old (55% men) and 95 were over 60 years old (45% men). They were classified as nocturnal hypertensive if their average night-time blood pressure was > 120/70 mmHg. AASI, as a dynamic arterial stiffness index, is calculated as 1 minus the slope of diastolic (DBP) on systolic (SBP) blood pressure values from the 24-h recording period Data were analyzed by analysis of covariance adjusted for 24-hour mean arterial pressure, height, heart rate and antihypertensive treatment. Results: Women (0.32±0.01) showed higher AASI as compared to men (0.27±0.01; p