[Relationships between ambulatory blood pressure and carotid artery diseases].

Unlabelled: We studied in a retrospective study 138 consecutive hypertensive patients, the relationship between atherosclerosis lesions in carotid-artery and the ambulatory blood pressure. Only 93 of the 138 patients were finally included in this study because of the quality of information. They were 50 women and 43 men, aged 57.2 +/- 12.6 years.
Methodology: The ambulatory blood pressure was recorded by oscillometric method (Spacelab monitor). The carotid artery were studied by echography and doppler.
Results: Carotid lesions in hypertensive patients didn't differ significantly when ambulatory systolic blood pressure increased (147,1 mmHg vs 145.2 in the day, and 135.5 mmHg vs 131.7 in the night; ns); Ambulatory diastolic blood pressure was lower during the day when carotid lesions where present (86.5 mmHg vs 93.2; p < 0.05). Ambulatory diastolic blood pressure decreased also with age; Ambulatory pulsed blood pressure increased when carotid lesions where present (59.3 mmHg vs 52.8 in the day and 58 mmHg vs 51.7 in the night; p < 0.05). Ambulatory pulsed blood pressure increased also with age and body mass index.
Conclusion: This results suggest a predictive character of the pulsed pressure measure on the existence of carotid artery lesions in hypertensive patients and that a non invasive study of the carotid artery is opportune when pulsed pressure ambulatory measure is high.