Nocturnal blood pressure, morning blood pressure surge, and cerebrovascular events

Cerebrovascular disease is a common cause of death and major cause of disability worldwide. Even in silent cases (e.g., silent cerebral infarction, white matter lesion), cerebrovascular disease can lead to physical and cognitive impairment, thereby substantially reducing the activities of daily living. Accordingly, the earliest possible action to prevent not only symptomatic but also silent cerebrovascular disease has become a major public health challenge. Hypertension is a potent risk factor for both symptomatic and silent cerebrovascular disease. Twenty-four-hour blood pressure (BP) rather than office BP is closely associated with cerebrovascular disease and/or poor physical and cognitive function. In particular, nocturnal BP and morning BP surge have attracted much attention as risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases independently of 24-h BP level. This review is an attempt to summarize some of the evidence on nocturnal BP level or nocturnal BP dipping status, and morning BP surge as potent risk factors for cerebrovascular disease.