ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the effect of persistent atrial ifbrillation (AF) on circadian rhythm of blood pressure (BP) in patients with essential hypertension (EH). Methods: A total of 173 EH patients treated in Gansu Provincial Hospital from 2013-02 to 2014-01were studied. The patients were divided into 2 groups: EH group,n=88 and Persistent AF combining EH group,n=85. The baseline information was studied and the risk factors of persistent AF combining EH were investigated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: Compared with EH group, the Persistent AF combining EH group showed decreased average daytime DBP, minimum daytime SBP, minimum daytime DBP and the average 24-hour DBP, while increased maximum nighttime SBP and the percentage of reverse dipper in DBP, allP0.05. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the maximum nighttime SBP was obviously related to persistent AF combining EH (OR=1.038, 95 CI 1.014-1.062,P=0.001). Conclusion: Persistent AF may incur daytime BP dropping, such change was not obviously observed for nighttime BP in EH patients.