Reduced cerebral perfusion in elderly men with silent myocardial ischaemia and nocturnal blood pressure dipping

ObjectiveKnowledge about the impact of cardiovascular disease on cerebral autoregulation and cognition in aging is sparse. The aim of our study is to examine the association between cerebral blood flow (CBF), silent ST segment depression (STDE) on ambulatory ECG (LTER) and nocturnal blood pressure variations in elderly men.MethodsIn a cross-sectional cohort study “Men born in 1914”, eighty 83-year-old men were examined by CBF, LTER and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). The presence and the degree of STDE were analyzed in relation to regional CBF in nocturnal blood pressure dippers/non-dippers.ResultsFourty-five (56%) study subjects had STDE, 25 at both day and night and 20 only daytime. Subjects with STDE expressed lower CBF in left frontal, temporal, inferior parietal regions and bilateral superior parietal regions compared to men without STDE. Low regional CBF was most frequent in subjects with daytime STDE. Subjects with nocturnal diastolic blood pressure dip and STDE (22 subjects; 35%) had lower mean CBF in the parietal lobe and also correlation between STDE and CBF (r = 0.31-0.44, p = 0.056-0.006) compared to non-dippers with STDE. The lowest CBF in nocturnal dippers was observed in subjects with maximal STDE daytime.ConclusionSilent myocardial ischemia may contribute to cerebrovascular disease in non-demented elderly men. Cerebral perfusion seems to be most vulnerable to myocardial ischemia in elderly with nocturnal blood pressure dipping.