Relation between ambulatory blood pressure and arterial stiffness in the very elderly

Objective To investigate the relation between ambulatory blood pressure and arterial stiffness in the very elderly. Methods 238 very elderly(age≥80 years) were divided into two groups.104 normotensive and 134 hypertensive(BP≥160/95 mm Hg,1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa). Ambulatory blood pressure and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity(baPWV) were monitored for all subjects. The relationship between parameters of ambulatory blood pressure and arterial stiffness was analyzed by Pearson correlation. Results The baPWV of the hypertensive group was significantly higher than that of normotensive group (P0.05,P0.01). The casual systolic blood pressure(SBP),24 h,day(D) and night(N) SBP,diastolic blood pressure(DBP),pulse pressure (PP),SBP load and DBP load in hypertensive group were significantly higher than those in the normotensive group. The rates of nocturnal SBP decrease and DBP decrease in the hypertensive group were significantly lower than those in the normotensives (P0.05,P0.01). Pearson correlation analysis showed that baPWV was positively correlated with casual SBP, casual DBP, 24 h SBP, DBP, PP; day SBP, DBP, PP, HR; night SBP, DBP, PP, SBP load and DBP load, negatively correlated with night SBP decrease (P0.01). Conclusion Present findings suggest that increase in arterial stiffness is an important factor of hypertension in the very elderly. Arterial stiffness is correlated with ambulatory SBP, DBP, PP, HR and BP load.