Impaired cognitive executive dysfunction in adult treated hypertensives with a confirmed diagnosis of poorly controlled blood pressure.

BACKGROUND: High blood pressure (BP) poses a major risk for cognitive decline. Aim of the study was to highlight the relationship between cognitive assessment scores and an effective therapeutic BP control. METHODS: By medical visit and ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), we studied 302 treated hypertensives, subdivided according to office/daytime BP values into 120 with good (GC) and 98 poor (PC) BP control, 40 with "white coat hypertension" (WCH) and 44 a "masked-hypertension" phenomenon (MH). Patients underwent neuropsychological assessment to evaluate global cognitive scores at the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) and attention/executive functions (Delayed Recall, Digit Span Forwards, Digit Span Backwards, Selective Attention, Verbal Fluency, Stroop Test and Clock Drawing). Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) served as the index of vascular damage. RESULTS: There were no differences among the groups in terms of gender, age, education, metabolic assessment, clinical history and hypertension treatment. GC presented lower office and ambulatory BP values and IMT. PC performed worse than GC on global executive and attention functions, especially executive functions. In PC, office systolic BP (SBP) was significantly associated to the MMSE and FAB scores and, in particular, to Verbal Fluency, Stroop Errors and Clock Drawing tests. Office diastolic BP (DBP) was associated to Selective attention, nocturnal SBP to Digit Span backwards and Verbal Fluency. Worse cognitive assessment scores were obtained in WCH than GC. CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that in adult treated hypertensives, a poor BP control, as both doctor's office and daytime scores, is associated to impaired global cognitive and especially executive/attention functions.

Target organ damage and masked hypertension in the general population: the Finn-Home study.

BACKGROUND: The relation of masked hypertension to target organ damage has very seldom been investigated in a general population. METHODS: An unselected population cohort (n = 1989 of which 1540 were not treated for hypertension) underwent office (duplicate measurements on one visit by a nurse) and home (duplicate measurements on 7 days) blood pressure (BP) measurements and evaluation of electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG-LVH, n = 1989/1540), carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT, n = 758/592), and pulse wave velocity (PWV, n = 237/158). ECG-LVH was diagnosed using Cornell voltage criteria. PWV was measured using whole-body impedance cardiography. Masked hypertension was defined as office BP less than 140/90 mmHg with home BP at least 135/85 mmHg and white-coat hypertension as office BP at least 140/90 mmHg and home BP less than 135/85 mmHg. RESULTS: Masked and sustained hypertensive individuals had significantly higher age-adjusted and sex-adjusted Cornell voltage, cIMT, and PWV than normotensive individuals. White-coat hypertensive patients had higher age-adjusted and sex-adjusted Cornell voltage than normotensive individuals but significantly lower Cornell voltage and PWV than sustained hypertensive patients. The differences in Cornell voltage and PWV remained significant after adjustment for confounding factors. However, all differences became nonsignificant after adjustment for systolic home BP. CONCLUSION: Masked and sustained hypertension is accompanied by increased risk for hypertensive target organ damage, whereas white-coat hypertension seems to be a more benign phenomenon.

Discrepancy between tonometric ambulatory and cuff-based office blood pressure measurements in patients with type 1 diabetes.

The aim of the current study was to compare ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) with office blood pressure (OBP) in diagnosing hypertension (HTN) in type 1 diabetes. The cross-sectional study included 569 type 1 diabetes patients, with a mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of 55 ± 13 years and diabetes duration of 33 ± 16 years, and 315 (55%) men. Blood pressure ≥ 130/80 mm Hg defined HTN. ABP was measured by tonometry and OBP by sphygmomanometry. Elevated ABP with normal OBP defined masked uncontrolled HTN, and normal ABP with elevated OBP defined isolated uncontrolled clinic HTN. Mean ± SD 24-hour ABP, daytime ABP, and OBP was 128 ± 16/75 ± 10 mm Hg, 133 ± 16/77 ± 11 mm Hg, and 136 ± 14/76 ± 8 mm Hg, respectively (P<.001). With 24-hour and daytime ABP, HTN was present in 256 (45%) and 304 (53%) patients; normal BP in 102 (18%) and 88 (15%) patients; isolated uncontrolled clinic HTN in 154 (27%) and 104 (%) patients; and masked uncontrolled HTN in 57 (10%) and 73 (13%) patients. Twenty-four-hour ABP and OBP showed disagreement in diagnosing HTN in 211 (37%) patients. Daytime ABP and OBP disagreed in 177 (31%) patients. HTN by 24-hour and daytime ABP was present in 313 (55%) and 377 (66%) patients. ABP measurements were well-tolerated and successful in 98%. A total of 92% would volunteer for repeat measurements and 83% preferred the tonometry to conventional cuff-based devices. In patients with type 1 diabetes, tonometric ABP measurements are feasible. ABP and OBP disagree in diagnosing HTN in 31% to 37% of patients. Furthermore, 55% to 66% of patients do not reach target BP of <130/80 mm Hg despite regular follow-up.