Περίληψη:
Background: There is evidence that in cirrhotic patients, certain
hemodynamic parameters, such as blood pressure and heart rate, are
related to the severity of liver disease. This study investigated
whether non-invasive 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate
are more closely associated with markers of liver disease severity than
conventional office measurements.
Methods: Ambulatory patients with cirrhosis underwent office blood
pressure and heart rate measurements, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure
monitoring and blood laboratory tests.
Results: Fifty-one patients (32 men, mean age 57.4 +/- 11.3 years)
completed the study. Twenty six patients had compensated liver cirrhosis
(group A) and 25 patients had more advanced liver disease (group B).
Group A and B patients differed significantly both in ambulatory asleep
diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.05) and office diastolic blood pressure
(p < 0.01), which were lower in more advanced liver disease. Office
blood pressure and heart rate correlations were similar to or even
stronger than ambulatory ones. Ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate
awake-asleep variation (dipping) showed a relatively flat pattern as
markers of liver dysfunction were deteriorating. The strongest
correlations were found with both ambulatory and office heart rate,
which increased as indicators of severity of liver disease were
worsening.
Conclusions: Heart rate seems to be a more reliable marker of ongoing
liver dysfunction than blood pressure. Evaluation of blood pressure and
heart rate with 24-hour ambulatory measurement does not seem to offer
more information than conventional office measurements.
Συγγραφείς:
Tzamouranis, Dimitris G.
Alexopoulou, Alexandra
Dourakis, Spyros
P.
Stergiou, George S.
