Background. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effect of the dipper vs. non-dipper patterns on left ventricular function and the dimensions of the ascending aorta in hypertensive patients in Angola.

Material and methods. This is a descriptive, observational study performed at the Department of Cardiology of Luanda Medical Center. For this purpose, information on demographic data, echocardiographic parameters and 24-hour-ambulatory blood pressure measurement parameters was collected. All patients underwent both echocardiographic study and 24-hour-ambulatory blood pressure measurement. Dipper pattern is considered when there is a decrease in the nocturnal BP in relation to the daytime BP greater than 10%; if this decrease is not observed either in the systolic blood pressure or in the diastolic blood pressure, the patients are considered non-dippers.

Results. We enrolled 159 patients, of which 85 (53.46%) were dippers and 74 (46.54%) were non-dippers, and 87 (54.71%) were male. The mean age (SD) was 43.62 (± 10.73) years. The patients with the non-dipper pattern had larger ascending aortic diameters (29.68 ± 4.88 vs. 27.8 ± 5.18, p = 0.001), higher left ventricular diastolic diameters (52.85 ± 9.24 vs. 50.24 ± 4.16, p = 0.027) and greater posterior wall thickness (10.73 ± 1.94 vs. 10.07 ± 1.70, p = 0.024). In addition, the left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) (B = 0.103, p = 0.001) and the posterior wall (PW) thickness (B = 0.350, p = 0.001) are significant estimates of non-dipper pattern.

Conclusions. The results show that hypertensive patients with non-dipper pattern have more alterations in left ventricular geometry, but not in left ventricular systolic and diastolic function.