Repeated systolic readings from linked primary care records gave visit-to-visit variability for 189,770 UK Biobank participants, followed a median of 10.7 years for incident abdominal aortic aneurysm, of which there were 1,036. Comparing highest with lowest tertile, variability carried 33% to 54% higher risk after adjustment for mean systolic pressure and cardiovascular risk factors, and the association held where mean systolic pressure was below 130 mmHg. Those with both high variability and high polygenic risk had hazard ratios of 2.07 to 2.28, and the authors state the work does not show that reducing variability prevents aneurysm.
Why it is interesting: A vascular risk signal outside mean blood pressure, visible only because repeated primary care readings were linked to a research cohort.