[Lack of association between blood pressure variability and left ventricular hypertrophy in essential hypertension].
OBJECTIVE
Blood pressure (BP) fluctuations may contribute to the development of target organ damage in essential hypertension. However, a possible relationship with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is controversial. The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between BP variability, defined through different instrument measures, and LVH in a group of essential hypertensive patients.


METHODS
Forty-three untreated hypertensive patients were studied. BP variability was evaluated by using both non-invasive, beat-to-beat finger 24-hour monitoring (Portapres) and discontinuous oscillometric ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). All patients underwent echocardiography in order to detect the presence or absence of LVH.


RESULTS
Thirty out of 43 patients studied (70%) exhibited LVH. Office [167.7 (19.5) versus 156.7 (14.9) mmHg; p = 0.032], 24-hour ambulatory [146.6 (15.7) versus 131.9 (15.1) mmHg; p = 0.003] and 24-hour continuous finger [147.5 (21.3) versus 135.7 (14.2) mmHg; p = 0.046] systolic BP were significantly higher in patients with LVH with respect to those without cardiac hypertrophy. No differences were observed in terms of nocturnal BP fall, ABPM 24-h standard deviation of BP or continuous finger BP variability estimates.


CONCLUSIONS
Left ventricular hypertrophy is mainly correlated with the severity of systolic BP elevation, but not with BP variability, neither long-term nor short-term.
Gómez Angelats
Elisenda
E
Unidad de Hipertensión, Servicio de Medicina Interna, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Universitat de Barcelona (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.
Sierra
Cristina
C
Coca
Antonio
A
Paré
Joan Carles
JC
de la Sierra
Alejandro
A
D001794:Blood Pressure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged