Event related brain potentials in elderly patients with recently diagnosed isolated systolic hypertension

Isolated Systolic Hypertension (ISH) is a known risk factor for cognitive impairment, but the time of onset of neurocognitive changes relative to the onset of ISH has yet to be established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between systolic BP values and neurocognitive function in the early stages of ISH.

Twenty elderly patients with recently (< 2 years) diagnosed ISH and 10 elderly normotensive controls underwent Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) and neurocognitive assessment, performed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the recording of ERPs with an odd ball acoustic paradigm.

There were no significant differences in MMSE scores or in the P300 latency between ISH patients and controls. The N2 latency was significantly higher in ISH patients vs. controls (p<0.0001), and showed a significant association with both clinical and ambulatory systolic BP and pulse pressure values in the overall study population.

These findings suggest the existence of early subclinical alterations in neurocognitive function in early ISH, detectable through ERPs.

Our findings underscore the ISH may constitute a threat to neurocognitive health in the elderly.