Elevated levels of short-term blood pressure variability: A marker for ascending aortic dilatation in hypertensive patients

Abstract

Background: Ascending aortic aneurysms are one of the primary causes of mortality. However, not much is known about the etiologies of aortic aneurysm. Recently, in hypertensive (HT) patients, blood pressure variability (BPV) has been recommended as a remarkable risk factor for adverse cardiovascular outcomes. This study aimed to explore the association between short-term BPV and ascending aortic dilatation (AAD). Methods: In this study, a total of 53 HT patients with AAD (aortic size index [ASI] ≥21 mm/m2) and 126 HT patients with a normal ascending aortic diameter (ASI 12.95 had a sensitivity of 61% and a specificity of 59% (area under the curve, 0.659; 95% CI, 0.562–0.756; P= .01); moreover, daytime SD of SBP > 16.4 had sensitivity of 62% and specificity of 61% (AUC, 0.687; 95% CI, 0.591–0.782; P< .001). :Conclusion Increased short-term BPV is independently associated with AAD and may be recommended as a remarkable factor risk for AAD in HT patients.

Keywords

• blood pressure variability
• ascending aortic dilatation
• aortic size index