Inter-arm difference in blood pressure in patients referred to tertiary hypertension center: Prevalence, risk factors, and relevance to physicians

Januvi Jegatheswaran; Swapnil Hiremath; Cedric Edwards; Marcel Ruzicka

doi:10.1111/jch.13978

Inter-arm difference in blood pressure in patients referred to tertiary hypertension center: Prevalence, risk factors, and relevance to physicians

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2020 Aug;22(8):1513-1517. doi: 10.1111/jch.13978. Epub 2020 Aug 9.

Authors

Januvi Jegatheswaran¹, Swapnil Hiremath^{1

2

3}, Cedric Edwards^{1

2}, Marcel Ruzicka^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nephrology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
² Division of Nephrology, Renal Hypertension Unit, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
³ Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Abstract

The prevalence of inter-arm BP difference is high in hypertension and is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. We performed a retrospective chart review of prevalent patients in the Ottawa Hospital Hypertension Center to assess for prevalence, risk factors, and whether finding of inter-arm BP difference >10 mmHg leads to investigations of the aorta and aortic arch. Inter-arm BP difference among 493 patients was present in 16.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]13.3-19.9%), and it was associated with presence of peripheral arterial disease. Physicians did not investigate ascending aorta and aortic arch for causes of the clinically significant inter-arm BP difference.

Keywords: blood pressure; hypertension; inter‐arm difference.

MeSH terms

Blood Pressure
Blood Pressure Determination
Humans
Hypertension* / diagnosis
Hypertension* / epidemiology
Physicians
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors