Circadian hemodynamic characteristics in hypertensive patients with primary aldosteronism.

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to compare circadian hemodynamic characteristics in hypertensive patients with and without primary aldosteronism.

METHODS

Circadian hemodynamics, including 24-h brachial and central blood pressure (BP), SBP variability indices, central pulse wave velocity (PWV), augmentation index (AIx@75), cardiac index, and total vascular resistance (TVR), were evaluated using an oscillometric device, Mobil-O-Graph, in 60 patients with primary aldosteronism (63.4±13.3 years, 47% women) and 120 age-matched and sex-matched patients with essential hypertension.

RESULTS

Office SBP, PWV, AIx@75, and BP variability indices were similar between groups; however, 24-h brachial (124 ± 14 vs 130 ± 11 mmHg) as well as central (112 ± 12 vs 120 ± 10 mmHg) SBP was higher (both P < 0.01), and the difference between 24-h brachial and central SBP (11 ± 5 vs 9 ± 3 mmHg, P < 0.05), an index of pressure amplification, was smaller in primary aldosteronism than in essential hypertension. In both groups, cardiac index decreased from daytime to night-time (both P < 0.01), but this decrease was smaller in primary aldosteronism (P < 0.05). During daytime, TVR in primary aldosteronism was higher than that in essential hypertension (P < 0.05), and the significant increase of TVR from daytime to night-time was lost in primary aldosteronism. In a multivariate stepwise regression model, primary aldosteronism emerged as an independent predictor of 24-h central SBP as well as the difference between 24-h brachial and central SBP.

CONCLUSION

Our results demonstrated that circadian hemodynamics in primary aldosteronism patients are characterized by increased central SBP, smaller disparity between brachial and central SBP, and disturbed circadian hemodynamic variation.