Abstract
Background: The major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetes is cardiovascular disease, which is exacerbated
by the presence of hypertension. Therefore, proper control of BP in diabetic hypertensive patients is essential. Few
studies have specifically investigated the prognostic significance of central BP in Egyptian populations with diabetes
and hypertension and its relation with cardiovascular outcome. This study aims to evaluate relation between central
BP and diabetic composite cardiovascular complications.
Results: Diabetic patients with CVD were significantly older (p value < 0.01), obese (p value < 0.01) with long duration
of diabetes (p value < 0.001) and had significantly higher peripheral and central systolic and diastolic BP and higher
AIx@75(p values < 0.01) than those without CVD. Regarding the metabolic parameters, they had significantly higher
fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, and higher blood cholesterol levels (p values < 0.001), higher LDL (p value < 0.01), triglycerides
levels (p value = 0.014), and microalbuminuria (p value = 0.028). Logistic regression analysis found increased
BMI, central systolic BP, and AIx@75 were independent predictors of composite CVD (p values < 0.05).
Conclusions: There is a pattern of favorability towards central rather than peripheral BP indices to predict the occurrence
of CVD in diabetic patients.
Keywords: Type 2 diabetes, Central blood pressure, Composite cardiovascular diseases, Assiut University Hospitals