Pathological somatosensory evoked potentials in patients with hypertension: a contribution to the study of the pathophysiology of juvenile essential hypertension.

Background: The role of factors influencing the cerebral regulation of blood pressure must be considered in the etiopathogenesis of essential hypertension The aim of our work was to explore the possibilities for differentiating certain clinical, functional and electrophysiological signs in young and adult hypertensives. This could help us to determine whether centrally active antihypertensive drugs may be more suitable than others.

Material/methods: We examined somatosensory evoked potentials (latencies of wave deflections and amplitudes) in two groups of patients with essential hypertension. The first group consisted of 25 hypertensive patients aged 20 to 30 years with onset before age 20 (n=25). The second group consisted of 40 hypertensive patients aged 40 to 60 years with onset after the age of 30. The results were compared with those obtained from age-correlated healthy controls.

Results: The most interesting changes were observed in the amplitudes of somatosensory evoked potentials in the group of juvenile patients with hypertension. The decrease in the amplitude of all wave deflections was very compact, consistent, and statistically significant even after repeated examinations. This finding raises the possibility of influence or damage to the peripheral afferentation of signals in juvenile patients, with hypertension as an expression of the reactions of brainstem structures.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that afferent impulses and the reactivity of brainstem structures may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of hypertension.