Comparison of Nocturnal Blood Pressure Patterns between Parkinson’s Disease, Cerebrovascular, and Other Neurological Diseases

Background: The rise in average systolic blood pressure at night compared with daytime is called reverse dipping. Reverse dipping is one of the indicators of autonomic dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Reverse dipping may increase cardiovascular mortality. We aimed to document nocturnal blood pressure patterns of patients with Parkinson’s Disease, cerebrovascular diseases, and other neurological diseases. Method: Patients who applied to the neurology department between 2012 and 2016 and had 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were enrolled. Patients without an MRI examination were excluded. Patients in the cerebrovascular disease group had ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, vascular parkinsonism, and/or vascular dementia. The patients who did not have PD or cerebrovascular disease were assigned to the other neurological diseases group. Nocturnal blood pressure patterns were examined and categorized into two as dipping/non-dipping and reverse dipping. Dipping/non-dipping and reverse dipping rates were compared between groups. The difference between the groups was evaluated using the chi-square test. Results: A total of 126 patients were enrolled, 59% (n:74) of them were female while 41% (n:52) were male. The median age was 62 (18 - 88) years. The rates of dipping, non-dipping, and reverse dipping were as follows; 5.3%, 57.9%, 36.8% in the PD, 37%, 40.7%, 22.2% in the cerebrovascular disease, and 37.5%, 51.2%, and 11.3% in the other neurological diseases group. The rate of reverse dipping was significantly higher in the PD group ( p =0.024), while it was lower in other neurological disease group ( p =0.029). The rates in the cerebrovascular disease group were not statistically different. Conclusion: Reverse dipping is an important yet unnoticed autonomic dysfunction feature which can increase cardiovascular mortality in PD patients.