Aortic stiffness index and diurnal variability (dipper/non-dipper) in hypertensive patients

DOI: 10.4328/JCAM.5547 Received: 30.11.2017 Accepted: 05.01.2018 Published Online: 07.01.2018 Printed: 01.03.2018 J Clin Anal Med 2018;9(2): 128-32 Corresponding Author: Turgay Aslan, Department of Cardiology, Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. GSM: +905064742819 E-Mail: ttaslan3@hotmail.com Abstract Aim: Aortic stiffness is an independent predictor of primary coronary events in hypertensive patients. In this study, we aimed to evaluate how aortic elasticity parameters [aortic distensibility (AD), aortic stiffness index (ASI), aortic strain (AS)] is affected by the diurnal rhythm of the blood pressure in hypertensive and normotensive individuals without a known cardiovascular disease. Material and Method: In this cross-sectional study, 58 hypertensive and 60 normotensive patients without known cardiovascular disease were enrolled. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed on hypertensive patients, and transthoracic echocardiography was performed on all study participants. The AD, ASI, and AS were compared between controls, dippers, and non-dippers. Results: In our study, the highest “aortic stiffness index” value was detected in reverse dippers group followed by non-dippers group, dippers group, and control group with regard to age. Also, aortic strain and aortic distensibility values were highest in control group, respectively dippers group, non-dippers group and reverse dippers group. Discussion: We determine there is a relation with the diurnal rhythm of blood pressure and aortic stiffness parameters.