Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Hypertensive Patients with Different Ventricular Geometries

pp 587-592

Abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to assess the clinical and ambulatory blood pressure levels in hypertensive patients with different geometries according to two dimensionally guided M-mode echocardiographic measurements.

Material and methods

Sixty three stage I or II (JNC V) hypertension, without treatment during the previous three months, 24 women and 49 men, aged 24-77 (mean52 ± 11) years, comprised the study population. Standard procedures were used to take clinical and ambulatory blood pressure recordings. Left ventricular mass index and relative wall thickness were calculated. Upper normal limits were left ventricular mass index of 108 g/m2 in women and 118 g/m2 in men, and relative wall thickness of0.41in both genders. Subjects were considered to have: normal geometry if both left ventricular mass index and relative wall thickness fell below these values, concentric hypertrophy if both were elevated, eccentric hypertrophy if left ventricular mass index was elevated and relative wall thickness was normal, and concentric remodeling if left ventricular mass index was normal and relative wall thickness was elevated.

Results

Although all groups had similar clinical blood pressure, there were significant differences among the four groups in all the ambulatory blood pressure parameters analized and patients with concentric hypertrophy had the highest24hours medium blood pressure, 6-12 p.m. diastolic and medium blood pressure, and 0-6a.m. (nigh time) medium blood pressure.