Heart rate turbulence in masked hypertension and white-coat hypertension.

OBJECTIVE To observe the heart rate turbulence (HRT) in patients with masked hypertension (MH), and white-coat hypertension (WCH). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients were classified on the basis of clinic and 24h ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring: essential hypertension (H, n = 32), masked hypertension (MH, n=26), white-coat hypertension (WCH, n = 29) and normotension (NT, n = 30). For each subject, we recorded 24 hours holter monitoring electrocardiogram, calculated the turbulence onset (TO) and turbulence slope (TS) and compared the differences. RESULTS Compared with NT controls, the differences of TO and TS in the patients with EH, MH and WCH were statistically significant (p < 0.01). No significant differences were found between the EH, MH and WCH groups. CONCLUSIONS The HRT in EH, MH and WCH patients is significantly lower, when their autonomic nerve function is damaged.