Patients with type 2 diabetes have exaggerated brachial and central exercise blood pressure: Relation to left ventricular relative wall thickness

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A hypertensive response to exercise has prognostic significance. Patients with type 2 diabetes have vascular abnormalities which may predispose to exaggerated brachial and central blood pressure (BP) during exercise. This study aimed to test this hypothesis and to determine the clinical significance of high exercise BP by examining its relation to left ventricular (LV) mass. METHODS: Brachial and central BP were recorded at rest and in response to maximal exercise in 73 diabetic patients (aged 54 +/- 10 years) and 73 controls (aged 53 +/- 12 years). Brachial BP was recorded using mercury sphygmomanometry and LV mass using 2D-echocardiography. Central BP was estimated by radial to..