The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of target organ damage (TOD) and the beneficial properties of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) for detecting patients who are at high risk for TOD and cardiovascular disease in never treated mild-to-moderate hypertension.
Sixty-seven patients (28 males and 39 females, mean age, 49.6 ± 9.5 years) were divided into two groups, dippers (group I, n = 43) and nondippers (group II, n = 24), according to nocturnal blood pressure (BP) reduction of less than 10%. The groups were compared with respect to demographic and laboratory data and the signs of TOD (microalbuminuria, left ventricular hypertrophy, and retinopathy). We also tested the relationship between ABPM and clinic BP findings with TOD. Group I had significantly lower values than group II for serum fibrinogen (0.28 ± 0.06 versus 0.32 ± 0.06 g/L, P = 0.02), uric acid (0.18 ± 0.05 versus 0.25 ± 0.11 mmo/L, P = 0.01), urinary sodium excretion (133.7 ± 45.2 versus 161.8 ± 52.2 mmol/L, P = 0.02), urinary albumin excretion (17.5 ± 14.2 versus 31.3 ± 19.7 mg/24-h, P = 0.001), left ventricular mass index (111.8 ± 31.0 versus 128.7 ± 36.6 g/m², P = 0.05), and the prevalence of hypertensive retinopathy (51% versus 83%, P = 0.01). The frequency of the combination of all three signs of TOD (microalbuminuria, left ventricular hypertrophy, and hypertensive retinopathy) was higher in nondippers than in dippers (71.4% versus 30%, P = 0.04). We suggest ABPM may provide clinical information to detect patients prone to develop cardiovascular risks and TOD in newly diagnosed mild-to-moderate hypertension.