Long-Term Risk of Progression to Sustained Hypertension in White-Coat Hypertension with Normal Night-Time Blood Pressure Values

Background. The long-term prognosis and transition towards sustained ambulatory hypertension (SHT) of white-coat hypertension (WCHT) remain uncertain particularly in those with both normal nighttime and daytime blood pressure (BP) values. Different classification criteria and the use of antihypertensive drugs may contribute to conflicting results. Patients and Methods. We prospectively evaluated for a 7.1 year transition to SHT in 899 nondiabetic subjects free from cardiovascular (CV) events: normotensive (NT) (n = 344; 52, 9% female; ageing 48 ± 14 years); untreated WCHT (UnWCHT n = 399; 50, 1% female; ageing 51 ± 14 years); and treated WCHT with antihypertensive drugs after baseline (TxWCHT n = 156; 54, 4% female; ageing 51 ± 15 years). All underwent 24 h ambulatory BP monitoring (24 h-ABPM) at baseline, at 30 to 60 months, and at 70 to 120 months thereafter. WCHT was at baseline (with no treatment) as office BP ≥ 140/or 90 mm·Hg, daytime BP < 135/85 mm·Hg, and nighttime BP < 120/70 mm·Hg. Development of SHT was considered if daytime BP ≥ 135/or 85 mm Hg and/or nighttime BP ≥ 120/or 70 mm·Hg. Results. Baseline metabolic parameters did not differ among groups. At 30–60 months and at the end of follow-up, development of SHT occurred, respectively, in NT (3.8% (n = 13) and 9.6% (n = 33)) and in UnWCHT (10.1% (n = 40) and 16.5% (n = 66)) ( p < 0.009 ). The mean annual increase of average 24 h-systolic BP was 0.48 + 0.93 in NT and 0.73 + 1.06 in UnWCHT, whereas annual SBP in office increased in NT by 1.2 + 0.95 but decreased in UnWCHT by 1.36 + 1.35 mm Hg ( p < 0.01 ). Conclusion. Untreated WCHT patients exhibit a faster and a higher risk of developing SHT compared to NT with TxWCHT assuming an intermediate position between them.

Augmented pressor and sympathoexcitatory responses to the onset of isometric handgrip in patients with type 2 diabetes

Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) exhibit greater daytime blood pressure (BP) variability, increasing their cardiovascular risk. Given the number of daily activities that incorporate short-duration isometric muscle contractions (e.g., carrying groceries), herein we investigated BP and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) responses at the onset of isometric handgrip (HG). We tested the hypothesis that, relative to control subjects, patients with T2D would exhibit exaggerated pressor and MSNA responses to the immediate onset of HG. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and MSNA were quantified during the first 30 s of isometric HG at 30% and 40% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and during a cold pressor test (CPT), a nonexercise sympathoexcitatory stimulus. The onset of 30% MVC HG evoked similar increases in MAP between groups ( P = 0.17); however, the increase in MSNA was significantly greater in patients with T2D versus control subjects with the largest group difference at 20 s ( P < 0.001). At the onset of 40% MVC HG, patients with T2D demonstrated greater increases in MAP (e.g., 10 s, T2D: 9 ± 1 mmHg, controls: 5 ± 2 mmHg; P = 0.04). MSNA was also greater in patients with T2D at 40% MVC onset but differences were only significant at the 20–30 s timepoint (T2D: 15 ± 3 bursts/min, controls: −2 ± 4 bursts/min; P < 0.001). Similarly, MAP and MSNA responses were augmented during the onset of CPT in T2D patients. These findings demonstrate exaggerated pressor and MSNA reactivity in patients with T2D, with rapid and robust responses to both isometric contractions and cold stress. This hyper-responsiveness may contribute to daily surges in BP in patients with T2D, increasing their short-term and long-term cardiovascular risk.

Screening for Hypertension in the INpatient Environment(SHINE): a protocol for a prospective study of diagnostic accuracy among adult hospital patients

IntroductionA significant percentage of patients admitted to hospital have undiagnosed hypertension. However, present hypertension guidelines in the UK, Europe and USA do not define a blood pressure threshold at which hospital inpatients should be considered at risk of hypertension, outside of the emergency setting. The objective of this study is to identify the optimal in-hospital mean blood pressure threshold, above which patients should receive postdischarge blood pressure assessment in the community.Methods and analysisScreening for Hypertension in the INpatient Environment is a prospective diagnostic accuracy study. Patients admitted to hospital whose mean average daytime blood pressure after 24 hours or longer meets the study eligibility threshold for mean daytime blood pressure (≥120/70 mm Hg) and who have no prior diagnosis of, or medication for hypertension will be eligible. At 8 weeks postdischarge, recruited participants will wear an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for 24 hours. Mean daytime ambulatory blood pressure will be calculated to assess for the presence or absence of hypertension. Diagnostic performance of in-hospital blood pressure will be assessed by constructing receiver operator characteristic curves from participants’ in-hospital mean systolic and mean diastolic blood pressure (index test) versus diagnosis of hypertension determined by mean daytime ambulatory blood pressure (reference test).Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been provided by the National Health Service Health Research Authority South Central—Oxford B Research Ethics Committee (19/SC/0026). Findings will be disseminated through national and international conferences, peer-reviewed journals and social media.

Dose–response association of 24-hour urine sodium and sodium to potassium ratio with nighttime blood pressure at older ages

Aims We investigated the dose–response association of 24-hour urine sodium and potassium with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure. Design Cross-sectional community-based study. Methods Among the 1128 participants in the community-based cross-sectional survey, 740 participants (aged 20–70 years) with complete 24-hour urine collection and valid 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were included in the study. Participants were grouped into younger (<55 years, n = 523) and older (≥55 years, n = 217). Results In the older population, nighttime blood pressure linearly increased with 24-hour urine sodium and the sodium to potassium ratio. For 24-hour urine sodium, adjusted β was 0.171 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.036–0.305) for nighttime systolic blood pressure and 0.144 (95% CI 0.012–0.276) for nighttime diastolic blood pressure. For the 24-hour urine sodium to potassium ratio, adjusted β was 0.142 (95% CI 0.013–0.270) for nighttime systolic blood pressure and 0.144 (95% CI 0.018–0.270) for nighttime diastolic blood pressure. The 24-hour blood pressure linearly increased with the 24-hour urine sodium to potassium ratio and adjusted β was 0.133 (95% CI 0.003–0.262) for 24-hour systolic blood pressure and 0.123 (95% CI 0.003–0.244) for 24-hour diastolic blood pressure. Daytime blood pressure and 24-hour systolic blood pressure showed a significant but non-linear association with 24-hour urine sodium among the older population. In the younger population, 24-hour urine sodium, potassium and the sodium to potassium ratio were not associated with ambulatory blood pressure. Conclusion In the older population, 24-hour urine sodium and the sodium to potassium ratio showed a linear and positive association with nighttime blood pressure, and 24-hour urine sodium was associated with 24-hour systolic blood pressure and daytime blood pressure in a non-linear fashion.

Ambulatory blood pressure and long-term risk for atrial fibrillation

ObjectiveData on the contribution of ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) components to the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) are limited. We prospectively tested the hypothesis that ABP may represent a potentially modifiable risk factor for the development of AF in a European population study.MethodsWe recorded daytime blood pressure (BP) in 3956 subjects randomly recruited from the general population in five European countries. Of these participants, 2776 (70.2%) underwent complete 24-hour ABP monitoring. Median follow-up was 14 years. We defined daytime systolic BP load as the percentage BP readings above 135 mm Hg. The incidence of AF was assessed from ECGs obtained at baseline and follow-up and from records held by general practitioners and/or hospitals.ResultsOverall, during 58 810 person-years of follow-up, 143 participants experienced new-onset AF. In adjusted Cox models, each SD increase in baseline 24 hours, daytime and night-time systolic BP was associated with a 27% (P=0.0056), 22% (P=0.023) and 20% (P=0.029) increase in the risk for incident AF, respectively. Conventional systolic BP was borderline associated with the risk of AF (18%; P=0.06). As compared with the average population risk, participants in the lower quartile of daytime systolic BP load (<3%) had a 51% (P=0.0038) lower hazard for incident AF, whereas in the upper quartile (>38%), the risk was 46% higher (P=0.0094).ConclusionsSystolic ABP is a significant predictor of incident AF in a population-based cohort. We also observed that participants with a daytime systolic BP load >38% had significantly increased risk of incident AF.

Abstract P308: Pilot Study: 24 Hour and Daytime Blood Pressure Lowering Effect of Melatonin in Younger and Older Non-hypertensive Adults

The study objective was to study the effect of melatonin on blood pressure (BP) in both younger and older normotensive and prehypertensive individuals. Preliminary data available at the time of abstract submission are presented for 12 participants (10 ≤ 50 years old; two ≥ 60). free of known hypertension or diabetes. All subjects had office and 24 hour ambulatory BP measured before and after dosing of 9 mg controlled release melatonin for six weeks. Subjects are described in Table 1 . Full data analysis for all 30 pilot subjects, including 12 older and 10 control subjects, will be available for the presentation. Table 2 shows results comparing baseline and follow-up BP. Mean 24 hour SBP/DBP, as well as ambulatory daytime SBP/DBP, were significantly lower following melatonin administration. In conclusion, these findings suggest possible future utility of melatonin for lowering BP in both younger and older non-hypertensive individuals.

Abstract 11530: Age-Specific Differences Between Conventional and Ambulatory Daytime Blood Pressure Values

Introduction: Mean daytime ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) values are considered to be lower than conventional BP (CBP) values, but data on this relation among younger individuals <50 years are scarce. To address this issue, we performed a collaborative analysis in a large group of participants representing a wide age range. Methods: CBP and 24-hour ABP were measured in 9550 individuals not taking BP lowering treatment from 13 population based cohorts. We compared the individual differences between daytime ABP and CBP according to 10-year age categories. Age-specific prevalences of white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension were calculated based on guideline-recommended thresholds. Results: Among individuals aged 18-30, 30-40 and 40-50 years, mean daytime systolic and diastolic ABP were significantly higher than the corresponding CBP (6.0, 5.2 and 4.7 mmHg for systolic BP; 2.5, 2.7 and 1.7 mmHg for diastolic BP, all p<0.0001) (Figure). Systolic and diastolic BP indices were similar in participants aged 50-60 years (p=0.20 and 0.11, respectively). In individuals aged 60-70 and ≥70 years, CBP was significantly higher than daytime ABP (5.0 and 13.0 mmHg for systolic BP; 2.0 and 4.2 mmHg for diastolic BP, all p<0.0001) (Figure). Accordingly, the prevalence of white coat hypertension exponentially increased from 2.2% to 19.5% from those aged 18-30 years to those aged ≥70 years, with some variation between men and women (prevalence 8.0% versus 6.1%, p=0.0003). Masked hypertension was more prevalent among men (21.1% versus 11.4%, p<0.0001). The age-specific prevalence of masked hypertension was 18.2%, 27.3%, 27.8%, 20.1% 13.6% and 10.2% in men, and 9.0%, 9.9%, 12.2%, 11.9%, 14.7% and 12.1% in women. Conclusions: In this large collaborative analysis we found that the relation between daytime ABP and CBP strongly varies by age. These findings may have important implications for the diagnosis of hypertension and its subtypes in clinical practice.