Blood pressure variability and target organ damage regression in hypertension

Abstract

The study by Triantafyllidi et al. supports the view that regression of subclinical cardiac damage requires an effective 24-hour blood pressure (BP) control along with a reduction in BP variability and suggests that the assessment of BPV and its modifications during the course of therapy may be an useful approach in predicting the beneficial effects of treatment on cardiac structure. However, some aspects and limitations of this study require caution in drawing firm conclusions. So, further investigation is needed to determine if reduction of BPV is actually associated with a regression in cardiac and extracardiac organ damage to identify which which classes of antihypertensive drugs are most effective in reducing BPV, and to elucidate whether those treatments provide additional clinical benefit, independent of the conventional BP targets.