A Prognostic Role of Mean 24-h Pulse Pressure Level for Cardiovascular Events in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects Under 60 Years of Age

OBJECTIVE —To assess the prognostic role of ambulatory 24-h pulse pressure (PP) on various vascular events in relatively young type 2 diabetic subjects under 60 years of age. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —In this prospective study, 237 type 2 diabetic subjects without any history of vascular complications were analyzed. After excluding 9 dropout subjects, 228 subjects (mean age, 46 years; 69% men; mean follow-up period, 100 months) entered the study. RESULTS —Distribution of 24-h PP for all subjects showed left skewed data, indicating that there may be a diabetic subgroup that had a wide PP. Therefore, further analysis was performed by stratifying the diabetic subjects by quartile of 24-h PP. Outcomes for the widest quartile ( n = 58; cut point = 53.3 mmHg) was then compared with those from the other narrower quartiles ( n = 170). In the diabetic subjects with a wide PP, cardiovascular events occurred more frequently than those in the diabetic subjects with a narrow one (20.7 vs. 4.1%; P P CONCLUSIONS —This study showed that a wide 24-h PP is predictive for cardiovascular events in relatively young diabetic subjects.