Materials and Methods: 25 hypertensive patients and 22 healthy controls were included in the study. Hypertensive patients were divided into 2 groups according to the results of 24-hour ABPM. The dipper hypertension group (n=13) consisted of patients whose average arterial BP during night-time is less than the BP average measured during daytime by 10% and the other patients were assigned into non-dipper hypertension group (n=12). The RNFL thickness of all individuals was measured with the NFA II–GDx.

Results: Average BP measured at night-time and day-time in the dipper and non-dipper groups was found to be significantly higher than the control group (p<0.05). The GDx parameter values used for the assessment of RNFL thickness-TSNIT, superior average and inferior average-were lower in the non-dipper group than both the dipper and control groups. The most obvious and statistically significant difference was observed in the inferior average value between the control group and the non-dipper group (67.03μ±9.15 vs. 59.31μ±6.38, p=0.01).

Conclusion: More serious end organ damage has been demonstrated in hypertensive patients who do not show the decrease in blood pressure levels at night time (non-dipper) observed in the majority of patients. It could be useful to examine the detected thinning in RNFL thickness in non-dipper hypertension on large populations as an additional risk factor for glaucomatous damage. Keywords : Hypertension, arterial blood pressure, retina nerve fiber layer