BLOOD-PRESSURE RESPONSE TO EXERCISE IN YOUNG SUBJECTS WITH AND WITHOUT PARENTAL HISTORY OF HYPERTENSION

We examined 150 young male adults in the Italian Air Force to evaluate the correlation between blood pressure (BP) response to bicycle exerc ise and early structural changes of the left ventricle and the carotid arteries, The subjects were divided into three subgroups: (1) borderl ine hypertensives; (2) normotensives having one or both parents with h ypertension; (3) normotensives without family history of hypertension, AII subjects underwent a submaximal exercise test, echocardiography a nd carotid ultrasonographic study. The echocardiographic examination s howed no significant difference between the three subgroups, while the vascular ultrasonographic examination showed a significant difference in carotid thickness between borderline hypertensives and the two oth er groups, The exercise test induced an abnormal hypertensive response only in the borderline group. We also considered the variation of sys tolic BP between maximum stress and the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 8th minute o f recovery phase. From our data it seems that more than the exercise t est, recovery BP values may be suggestive of an exaggerated cardiovasc ular response.