Background: The assessment of clinical implications of often observed differences between ambulatory (ABP) and office blood pressure (OBP) measurements might be of particular importance. The aim of the study was to assess the arterial stiffness in subjects with masked hypertension (normal OBP, elevated ABP) and in subjects with white coat hypertension (elevated OBP, normal ABP) as compared to hypertensives and normotensives.

Methods: The study group included 259 untreated subjects recruited from general population [age 32.8±12.9 years, 136 F/123 M, BMI = 24.7±4.5 kg/m², n = 70 (27.0%) current smokers, n = 54 (20.9%) declared regular alcohol intake]. The 24-h ABP monitoring was performed using oscillometric SpaceLabs 90207 monitors. Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured with the Complior^® device.

Results: In subjects with masked hypertension (n = 37) we observed higher PWV as compared to normotensives (10.15±1.62 vs 8.56±1.45 m/s; p < 0.05). Also subjects with white coat hypertension (n = 20) appeared to have higher PWV than normotensives (9.39±1.23 m/s; p < 0.05). In the multifactorial analysis, with adjustment applied for age, gender, BMI, smoking and alcohol intake, the observed higher values of PWV in subjects with masked hypertension as compared to normotensives remained significant (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Subjects with masked hypertension and with white coat hypertension, as compared to normotensives, are characterized by higher values of pulse wave velocity, similar to values observed in hypertensives. Only masked hypertension is independent determinant of increased arterial stiffness. This observation might be related to stronger correlation of target organ damage with ambulatory than office blood pressure.