IMPACT OF SEASONALITY AND AIR POLLUTANTS ON WAVE REFLECTION IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Objective: Important climate-related variations of clinic and ambulatory blood pressure (BP) have been repeatedly reported. However, the influence of seasonality and other environmental factors such as air pollutants and outdoor temperature on wave reflection, a parameter associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events, has never been investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine in a cross-sectional survey whether acute variations in these environmental factors may affect wave reflection, measured as augmentation pressure (AP) and augmentation index normalized at a heart rate of 75bpm (AIx75).