Lack of Nocturnal Blood Pressure Fall in Elderly Bedridden Hypertensive Patients With Cerebrovascular Disease

Abstract

To prevent recurrence of cerebrovascular disease (CVD), adequate control of blood pressure (BP) is extremely important for the treatment of hypertensive CVD patients. As absence of the nocturnal fall of BP by the expected 10–20% from daytime levels is reported to exaggerate target organ injury, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was conducted, especially to obtain data during nighttime sleep. Forty-eight elderly bedridden chronic phase CVD hypertensive patients (assessed 1–3 mo after CVD accident) participated. As a group, nocturnal BP was higher than diurnal BP, whereas nocturnal pulse rate was lower than diurnal pulse rate. The nocturnal BP fall was blunted in most (∼90%) of the patients. These results suggest that to perform a rational drug treatment, it is essential to do 24-h ABPM before initiation of antihypertensive therapy in elderly bedridden hypertensive CVD patients. (Author correspondence: [email protected])

Keywords:

• Bedridden patients
• Cerebrovascular disease
• Hypertension
• Nocturnal blood pressure
• Non-dipper blood pressure pattern
• Riser blood pressure pattern
• Stroke