Blood Pressure Variability

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate the role of blood pressure (BPV) variability in patients suffering from acute ischemic stroke. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. To determine the association of BPV with functional/cognitive outcome after ischemic stroke. 2. To determine a pathophysiologic mechanism of BPV's deleterious effect on functional outcome. 3. To evaluate potential treatment targets to pharmacologically reduce BPV after ischemic stroke.

This study aims to investigate how metabolic health is related to arterial stiffness and daily blood pressure patterns. High blood pressure is one of the leading causes of heart disease worldwide, but cardiovascular risk is not determined only by average blood pressure values. Changes in blood vessel structure and metabolic function also play an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease. Arterial stiffness reflects how flexible or rigid the arteries are. It can be measured using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), which is considered a reliable and widely used method to assess vascular health. Increased arterial stiffness is associated with aging and higher cardiovascular risk. At the same time, metabolic factors such as insulin resistance and central obesity are strongly linked to vascular damage. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is a simple measure derived from routine blood tests and has been shown to reflect insulin resistance. Additional derived indices that combine TyG with body measurements (such as waist circumference and body mass index) may provide an even more comprehensive evaluation of metabolic risk. Another important aspect of cardiovascular regulation is how blood pressure changes throughout the day. Blood pressure naturally rises in the morning after waking, a phenomenon known as the morning blood pressure surge. When this increase is excessive, it has been associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events such as stroke and heart attack. This study will evaluate the relationship between metabolic indices, arterial stiffness, and morning blood pressure patterns in adults undergoing ambulatory blood pressure monitoring as part of routine clinical care. The study will include both previously collected data and new participants evaluated using standardized methods. No additional interventions will be performed, and all data will be collected as part of routine clinical evaluation. The results of this study may help improve cardiovascular risk assessment by integrating simple metabolic markers with vascular measurements and daily blood pressure behavior, potentially allowing earlier identification of individuals at higher risk.

The purpose the research is to prospectively demonstrate agreement between EHR and ambulatory blood pressure monitor (ABPM) derived blood pressure variability (BPV), as well as the feasibility of reducing BPV using a data-driven pharmacotherapeutic approach. To this end, this is a feasibility study that will make use of the Cedars-Sinai Health System including the Medical Delivery Network and the clinics of all practitioners who use the same EHR.

This study is a single-center prospective cohort of patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD) who have not met the diagnostic criteria for hypertension. Ambulatory 24-hour blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) will be performed at baseline and one year after the enrollment. The primary purpose of the study is to delineate the relationship of blood pressure variability (BPV) with the risk of composite vascular events in non-hypertensive patients with ICVD. The factors related to BPV, as well as the potential modulators of the associations between BPV and vascular risk, will be further explored among these patients.