Short-term blood pressure variability, arterial stiffness, and cardiovascular events: results from the Bordeaux cohort

OBJECTIVE: Short-term blood pressure variability derived from 24-h ambulatory monitoring is associated with poor cardiovascular prognosis. However, previous analyses of this have clearly been influenced by clinical cofounders, particularly blood pressure (BP) level. Arterial stiffness is a powerful marker of cardiovascular risk, which may influence BP variability. In this study, we assessed the prognostic value of BP variability based on 24-h ambulatory measurements and adjusted for arterial stiffness. METHODS: Population: Bordeaux cohort of hypertensive patients. Inclusion criteria were 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring at baseline with measurements every 15' day and night, determination of wake-up time and bedtime, and assessment of arterial stiffness with monitoring of Korotkoff sound arrival time. A total of 969 patients (age 54 ± 14 years) with an average follow up of 120 ± 78 months and 178 cardiovascular recorded events were included. RESULTS: In univariate survival analyses, the standard deviations of day, night, and 24-h SBP were associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events. The standard deviation of night-time SBP showed the strongest association with the outcome variable and was entered into multivariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, night-time SBP variability remained significantly associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events after adjusting for major cardiovascular risk factors, 24-h SBP, and arterial stiffness. BP variability and arterial stiffness showed no significant association. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that variability of night-time SBP is an important marker of the risk of cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients, independently of average 24-h BP and arterial stiffness.