title: Arterial stiffness and dipper/nondipper blood pressure status in women with preeclampsia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical relevance of dipper status in women with preeclampsia by comparing arterial stiffness index (SI) values, and dipper and nondipper status.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 60 pregnant women in their third trimester were enrolled in the study. SI values were measured using a digital photoplethysmographic method (Pulse Trace System, Micro Medical Ltd., Gillingham, Kent, UK). Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure was measured by a SpaceLabs 90217 oscillometric device (SpaceLabs Inc., Redmond, WA, USA). Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and pulse pressure (PP) were recorded. Those preeclamptic women whose mean nighttime blood pressure measurements were at least 10% lower compared with mean daytime measurements were classified as dipper status, and those with a decrease of less than 10% were classified as nondipper status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventeen women were preeclamptic with a dipper status, 13 women had nondipper status preeclampsia, and 30 women were normotensive. SI values were significantly higher in preeclamptic women compared with normotensive women (8.8+/-1.2 m/s vs. 5.9+/-0.8 m/s, P<0.001), but SI values of preeclamptic women with dipper status and preeclamptic women with nondipper status did not differ significantly from each other (P=0.485).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no significant difference in SI values between the dipper and nondipper preeclamptic groups. These results indicate that dipper and nondipper measurements may not be suitable for clinical follow-up of preeclamptic women.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Afyonkarahisar Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. dagistantolgaarioz@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Dagistan Tolga
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Arioz
authors.forename: Hayrettin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saglam
authors.forename: Reha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Demirel
authors.forename: Gulengul
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koken
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cosar
authors.forename: Figen Kir
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dursun
authors.forename: Ilknur
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aral
authors.forename: Ersel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Onrat
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yilmazer