Research on the Relation between Blood Pressure Rhythms and Arterial Stiffness in Hypertensive Patients

Objective To observe the circadian changes of blood pressure between hypertensive patients and health adults and their influence on the arterial stiffness.Methods 24h non-invasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was conducted in 115 hypertensive patients.According to the decrease rate during nighttime,patients were divided into dipper type(78 cases) and non-dipper type(37 cases);brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity(baPWV) was measured using automatic arteriosclerosis determinator so as to assess the stiffness of arteries and make comparison with another 50 health adults as the control group.Results Higher rate of allorhythmia was found in hypertensive patients,in which non-dipper type was 67%,as compared with control group,in which that type was only 6%.Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity(baPWV) in hypertensive group was(1607.31±311.38),obviously higher than that in control group(1366.08±208.96).In hypertensive group,baPWV for non-dipper type was(1700.13±301.83),higher than that for dipper type(1515.23±320.21,P0.05).Conclusion Patients of primary hypertension tend to have a higher allorhythmia rate;blood pressure and blood pressure rhythm are important factors influencing arterial stiffness.