Relationship between carotid atherosclerosis and blood pressure variability in patients with essential hypertension

Objective To explore the relationship between carotid atherosclerosis(CAS) in patients with essential hypertension(EH) and blood pressure variability(BPV).Methods The ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was carried out in 125 cases of EH associated with carotid atherosclerosis(CAS group) and 99 cases of EH not associated with carotid atherosclerosis(NCAS group),and biochemical indicators including blood sugar and lipid were detected.Results There was no significant difference in genders,while the prevalence of CAS was positively associated with age(P0.05).CAS was correlated with fasting blood glucose(FBG),2 h postprandial blood glucose(2 hPG),low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C)(P0.05).CAS was associated significantly with the indicators of ambulatory blood pressure including 24 h systolic blood pressure(SBP),24 h diastolic blood pressure(DBP),standard deviations of 24 h SBP and 24 h DBP(P0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that 24 hSBP and standard deviations of 24 h SBP were all independent risk factors of CAS(OR=1.219,1.587,P0.05).Conclusion CAS is independently correlated with BPV in EH patients,especially with standard deviations of 24 h SBP.Strengthening the ambulatory blood pressure monitoring can contribute to guide the clinical treatment.