Morning blood pressure surge is associated with carotid intima-media thickness in prehypertensive patients

Objective Morning blood pressure (BP) surge (MBPS) is defined as an excessive increase in the morning BP from the lowest systolic BP during sleep and is reported as a risk factor for cardiovascular events in current clinical studies. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between MBPS and carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT) in prehypertensive patients. Patients and methods We evaluated the association between the rate of BP variation derived from ambulatory BP monitoring and C-IMT in patients with prehypertension. Results One hundred and seventy patients with prehypertension were included in the study. All office BP measurements and ambulatory 24-h, day-Time, and night-Time measurements were similar between each group. C-IMT [0.60 (range: 0.57-0.65) vs. 0.55 (range: 0.50-0.60) cm; P<0.001] and the mean platelet volume [8.7 (range: 7.9-9.1) vs. 7.9 (range: 7.3-8.8)fl; P=0.002] were significantly higher in the greater MBPS group than the lower group. In multivariate analysis, male sex [odds ratio (OR): 2.271, confidence interval (CI): 1.011-5.100, P=0.047], greater MBPS (OR: 8.474, CI: 3.623-19.608, P<0.001), and elevated mean platelet volume levels (OR: 3.359, CI: 1.978-5.705, P<0.001) were found to be independent predictors of greater C-IMT in prehypertensive patients. Conclusion Our study suggests that greater MBPS is associated independently with C-IMT in prehypertensive patients.