Orthostatic Hypertension and Intensive Blood Pressure Control; Post-Hoc Analyses of SPRINT

We evaluated the association between orthostatic hypertension and cardiovascular outcomes and the effect of intensive blood pressure (BP) control on cardiovascular outcomes in patients with orthostatic hypertension. Post hoc analyses of the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) data were conducted; orthostatic hypertension was defined as increase in systolic BP >= 20 mm Hg or increase in diastolic BP >= 10 mm Hg with standing. Of 9329 participants, 1986 (21.2%) had orthostatic hypertension at baseline. Within the intensive treatment group, participants with orthostatic hypertension were at higher risk of developing the composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 1.44 [95% CI, 1.1-1.87], P=0.007) compared with participants without orthostatic hypertension. Within the standard treatment group, there were no significant differences in cardiovascular outcome between participants with and without orthostatic hypertension. In participants with orthostatic hypertension, there was no statistically significant difference in risk of the composite cardiovascular outcome between the intensive and the standard BP treatment group (hazard ratio, 1.07 [95% CI, 0.78-1.47], P=0.68). In participants without orthostatic hypertension at baseline, the intensive treatment group was associated with a lower risk of the composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.56-0.79], P<0.0001). Orthostatic hypertension was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular outcomes in the intensive and not in the standard treatment group; intensive treatment of BP did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular outcomes compared with standard treatment in patients with orthostatic hypertension. These post hoc analyses are hypothesis generating and will need to be confirmed in future studies.