Relation Between Leuko-Araiosis And Circadian Pressure Variability

Objective: To investigate the association between blood pressure variation and leukoaraiosis and contribute to the clinical treatment . Methods: Retrospective investigations on cranial CT scans and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitorings were carried out in our 36 cases. Results :Leukoaraiosis was found to be more common in patients with cerebral vascular diseases (CVD) , dementia or coronary disease , and its occurrence was related to patients 'age and pattern of CVD .Blood pressure in 24-hour , diurnal and nocturnal periods were higher in patients with LA than normal tensive persons(p<0. 05) . The BP variability of former was larger (p<0.05). The extent of LA was positively correlated with systolic blood pressure (SUP) and SBP variations of the total of 24-hour period, the diurnal and nocturnal periods (p<0.05), We found a significant correlation between SUP load and a nocturnal fall in SBP (P<0.01). There was no significant correlation between the extent of LA and 24-hour mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) or heart rate (p>0.05). We also found the nocturnal DBP variability ,24-hour mean SBP and 24-hour SBP variability were positively correlated with the extentof LA p<0.05) .Conclusion: White matter changes perhaps were caused by abrupt drops in nocturnal BP ,24-hour SBP variability or continuous SBP load . Effective antihypertensiveTreatment may be useful to avoid the occurrence of LA .