Carotid intima-media thickness is associated with cognitive deficiency in hypertensive patients with elevated central systolic blood pressure

Two hundred individuals aged between 40 and 80？years old were evaluated in this cross-sectional prospective study. Fifty participants were controls (CT). The remaining 150 hypertensive patients were subdivided into two groups, those with CD (HCD) and those without CD (HNCD). All participants underwent clinical evaluations and biochemical blood tests were performed. CD was investigated using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) following the guidelines for its use in Brazil. The impact of hypertension on the arterial bed was assessed by identifying and measuring changes in the intima-media thickness (IMT) by vascular ultrasonography of the carotid arteries and analyses of the central blood pressure and Augmentation Index by applanation tonometry of the radial artery.There were no significant differences in the total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides plasma concentrations between the three groups. The serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate were within normal ranges for all three groups. A significantly lower MMSE score was recorded for the HCD Group compared to the HNCD and CT Groups (p-value？<？0.05).The IMT was significantly different between the HNCD and HCD Groups (p-value？=？0.0124). A significant difference in the IMT was also observed between hypertensive patients and the CT Group (p-value？<？0.0001). Age, low-density cholesterol, high-density cholesterol, triglycerides and IMT increased the Odds Ratio for cognitive dysfunction.The central systolic pressure was significantly higher in the HCD and HNCD Groups compared to CT Group (p-value？<？0.0001).Hypertensive patients with CD have changes in the vascular morphology characterized by an increased carotid IMT, enhanced atherosclerotic lipid profile and impaired hemodynamic functional manifested by elevated central systolic blood pressure.Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease including strokes (especially hemorrhagic), coronary heart di