Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored over 24 h utili
sing an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) system in 33 subje
cts with spinal cord injury: 11 patients with complete tetraplegia, 13
patients with incomplete tetraplegia and nine patients with complete
paraplegia. Measurements were analysed for overall levels of BP and HR
, presence of a physiological day/night cycle and events of autonomic
dysreflexia. Paraplegic patients exhibited normal BP and HR levels wit
h a physiological circadian rhythm. In complete tetraplegic patients t
he circadian rhythm was abolished for BP but preserved for HR, whlie i
n patients with incomplete tetraplegia circadian rhythm was preserved
for both BP and HR. Complete tetraplegic patients with autonomic dysre
flexia revealed a typical pattern in ABPM with multiple hypertensive e
pisodes and concomitant bradycardia. Under adequate treatment these ep
isodes could be reduced or abolished, while the disturbed circadian BP
rhythm persisted. These observations shed further light on mechanisms
of central BP and HR control. In tetraplegic patients ABPM is an effi
cient method to assess treatment for autonomic dysreflexia.