Diastolic Reverse Dipping Pattern Is the Predictor for the Echocardiographic Changes in the Untreated Masked Hypertensive Patients.

Background: The prognostic value of the dipping categories of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the association between DBP dipping categories of diastolic blood pressure and echocardiographic changes in untreated masked hypertension (MH) patients.

Methods: This retrospective study included 721 untreated MH patients between June 2006 and June 2016. Nocturnal dipping categories were defined according to the percentage decrease in nocturnal blood pressure (BP) compared to daytime BP as follows: non-dipping: decrease 0% to <10%, dipping: decrease 10% to 20%, reverse dipping: decrease <0%, and extreme dipping: decrease >20%. The echocardiographic findings were analyzed.

Results: The 4 echocardiographic parameters (left atrium [LA] dimension, interventricular septum [IVS] thickness, linear left ventricular end-diastolic dimension [LVEDD], and left ventricular [LV] mass) were significantly different among the 4 DBP dipping categories. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that DBP reverse dipping pattern was associated with higher IVS thickness (B: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.82; P < 0.001) and LV mass (B: 12.36, 95% CI: 2.38 to 22.35; P = 0.015), whereas DBP extreme dipping was associated with lower LVEDD (B: -7.05, 95% CI: -11.30 to -2.80; P = 0.001).The nocturnal systolic hypertension was associated with higher IVS thickness (B: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.71; P = 0.003) and LV mass (B:14.21, 95% CI: 4.54 to 23.88; P = 0.004). The nocturnal systolic blood pressure was associated with LA dimension, IVS thickness, left ventricular posterior wall thickness, and LV mass (all Ps < 0.05).

Conclusions: These results suggest that specific DBP dipping categories and nocturnal systolic hypertension were the predictive factors for the echocardiographic changes in untreated MH patients.