Stress-induced arterial hypertension – clinical features and treatment options

Aim: to evaluate the characteristics of 24-h blood pressure (BP) profile, prevalence of target organ damage in patients (pts) with stress-induced arterial hypertension (AH) and efficacy of the fluoxetine therapy. Materials and methods. The study included 23 pts with stress-induced AH, which diagnosis is confirmed on the ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in the working day (44% males and 56% females, mean age 38,9±5 years, body mass index 28,2±4,0 kg/m2). The regular antihypertensive therapies were not accepted by any patient. Initially clinical BP (BP clin.) level was 144,6±5,5/91,7±6,4 (136–156/80–100) mm Hg, heart rate (HR) 70,2±10,4 (50–88) bpm. All patients were given recommendations of lifestyle modification, and 20 patients started taking fluoxetin. Results. The 26,1% of pts have 1–2 risk factors (RF) and 73,9% have three or more RF. Target organ damage was found in 65% of pts. The presence of established cardiovascular disease were absent. BP during working hours was significantly higher than in the free time (∆BP 14,7±5,3/10,9±4,3 mm Hg, p