The relationship between blood pressure variability and left ventricular hypertrophy in elderly hypertensive patients

Objective To explore the relationship between blood pressure variability and left ven- tricular hypertrophy in elderly hypertensive patients.Methods The ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and echocardiography were performed in 216 hypertensive paitents.Results There is no difference in clini- cal characteristic of age,gender,24-hour mean blood pressure,fasting blood glucose,and blood cholesterol between patients with and without left ventricular hypertrophy.However,systolic blood pressure variability of 24hours (16.8±1.9vs 14.3±2.3),days (14.9±2.5 vs 13.8±2.4)and nights(10.8±3.7 vs 9.7±2.9) were significantly higher in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy than those without left ventricular hypertrophy.Conclusion Systolic blood pressure variability may be associated with left ventricular hyper- trophy and predict the target organ damage and adverse cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients.