Exaggerated exercise blood pressure response is related to tissue Doppler imaging estimated diastolic dysfunction in the early stages of hypertension

We investigated the plausible interrelationship of exaggerated blood pressure response (EBPR) during exercise with left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction, both associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes, in the early stages of essential hypertension (EH). Sixty-five consecutive patients (aged 54 years, 56 males) with stage I to II EH underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) recording and treadmill exercise testing and were classified as subjects with (n = 21) and without EBPR (n = 44) based on the systolic BP elevation at peak exercise (≥210 mm Hg for men and ≥190 mm Hg for women). LV diastolic function was estimated by pulsed tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), averaging diastolic mitral annular velocities (Em, Am) from four separate sites (LV lateral, septal, anterior, and inferior wall). Hypertensives with EBPR, compared with those without EBPR, exhibited increased 24-hour pulse pressure by 4.8 mm Hg (P < .05) and significantly lower values of Em/Am ratio by 0.07 (P < .05). Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that only 24-hour pulse pressure (odds ratio [OR] = 1.069; P = .043) and Em/Am (OR = 0.041; P = .049) were independent predictors of EBPR. Hypertensives with EBPR compared to their counterparts without EBPR are characterized by more pronounced LV diastolic dysfunction — assessed by TDI. Moreover, the increased pulsatile load seems to be a common denominator of these hypertension-linked states.