Arterial stiffness in prehypertensive patients with white coat hypertension

Abstract

Introduction: White-coat hypertension (WCH) is associated with higher cardiovascular risk and increased all-cause mortality in the general population. The aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences in primary laboratory findings and pulse wave velocity (PWV) between prehypertensive patients with and without WCH. Materials and Methods: This study included healthy 62 patients (37 women, 25 men) with prehypertension without medication based on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring [ABPM]) from one family practice in Health center Zagreb-West. Patients were divided into two groups depending on having WCH (>20 mmHg difference from in office SBP from average ABPM SBP values). Basic laboratory, anthropometric, 24h ambulatory blood pressure, and pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements were done in all patients. Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis's test and descriptive statistics were used in data processing in Statistica v.12.0. Results: WCH was found in 11 patients (17,7 %). Prehypertensive patients with WCH had significantly higher fasting glucose (median 5.