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Ambulatory heart rate and target organ damage in never-treated essential hypertensives

C Cuspidi1, C Valerio, S Meani

  • 1Department of Clinical Medicine and Prevention, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy. cesare.cuspidi@unimib.it

Journal of Human Hypertension
|September 8, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Ambulatory heart rate (HR) is not linked to target organ damage (TOD) in early hypertension. This study found no association between 48-hour HR and cardiac, vascular, or renal damage markers in essential hypertension patients.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Nephrology
  • Vascular Medicine

Background:

  • Limited evidence exists on ambulatory heart rate (HR) and target organ damage (TOD) in uncomplicated hypertension.
  • Essential hypertension can lead to subclinical cardiac, vascular, and renal damage.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between ambulatory HR and subclinical TOD markers in never-treated essential hypertensives.
  • To determine if HR has an additive value in predicting organ damage in early hypertension.

Main Methods:

  • 580 never-treated essential hypertensive patients underwent two 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring sessions.
  • Assessment included microalbuminuria (MA), left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), and carotid atherosclerosis.
  • Patients were categorized by HR tertiles and presence/absence of TOD.

Main Results:

  • No significant increase in LVH, carotid atherosclerosis, or MA prevalence was observed with increasing 48-hour HR tertiles.
  • No significant differences in 48-hour HR were found between patients with and without TOD.
  • Multivariate analysis identified age, 48-hour systolic blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome as independent predictors of TOD, not HR.

Conclusions:

  • 48-hour ambulatory HR is not associated with markers of subclinical target organ damage in early essential hypertension.
  • Findings do not support the use of HR as an additive predictor for organ damage in the early stages of hypertension.

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