Differential pressure as an independent factor of cardiovascular risk

Abstract

Objectives. To confirm that high differential pressure (DP) supposes greater risk of ischaemic cardiopathy and to assess whether it is also an independent risk factor of suffering a cerebrovascular accident. Design. An analytical, observational, retrospective and longitudinal study with historic cohorts. Setting. Urban population of about 18 000 inhabitants. Participants. 300 patients aged between 15 and 75 with hypertension of ≥2 years evolution, who have had their blood pressure taken by nurses 4 or more times (excluding casualty) and have not suffered a cardiovascular event (CVE), whether coronary accident, cerebrovascular accident or peripheral vasculopathy. Main measurements. The history relating to cardiovascular risk was recorded: lipaemia, obesity, tobacco dependency, diabetes mellitus, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). These factors were considered present if their diagnosis preceded the CVE diagnosis. They were placed in 2 groups, depending on the degree of differential pressure: "high" if >60 mm Hg and "not high" if ≤60 mm Hg. They were analysed for intention to treat over 10 years, with the appearance or not of a CVE as a response variable. Results. 300 participants (73.3% women), 150 exposed to risk and 150 not exposed. The initial analysis showed significant differences between the 2 groups for age (P