Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases including higher incidence of hypertension later in life. Absence of circadian blood pressure fluctuations is considered as a marker of pre-hypertensive state and correlates highly with target organ damage in hypertension.
Aim: Characterization of the circadian blood pressure rhythms as well as comparison of the results from the clinical measurements and Holter-monitored blood pressure data in women with PCOS.
Materials and methods: The study comprised 35 women (mean age 22.6 +/- 5.9 years, mean BMI 31.4 +/- 7.1 kg/m2) with proven diagnosis. 24-hour ambulatory Holter-monitoring using Oscar device (Sun Tech Medical Instruments, USA) was performed in parallel with clinical measurements of blood pressure.
Results: There were 25.7% of the subjects diagnosed with hypertension according to the criteria of ambulatory monitoring observing discrepancy with the criteria for normal clinically measured blood pressure in 7 cases (20%). The "white coat" effect was observed in 11.4%. Physiological nocturnal drop in the systolic pressure was not observed in 51.4% of the patients and in the diastolic pressure - in 22.9% of the cases.
Conclusions: The results confirm the advantages and the importance of the 24-hour monitoring as a diagnostic and predictive method for assessment of blood pressure alterations even in the absence of overt hypertension. PCOS is characterized by higher incidence of unstable blood pressure that is an additional risk factor for further development of cardiovascular diseases in this relatively young age group.