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Toy et al. Vessel Plus 2024;8:22 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2574-1209.2023.149 Page 7 of 10

Table 1. Demographic characteristics
All participants Guided exercise Usual care
Variable P
(n = 81) (n = 38) (n = 43)
Age (y) 57 (17) 56 (17) 57 (19) 1.0
Sex
Female 22 (27) 11 (29) 11 (26) 0.9
Ethnicity
Hispanic or latino 2 (2) 1 (3) 1 (2) 1.0
Race
American Indian/Alaska Native 2 (3) 0 (0) 2 (5) 0.5
Asian 5 (6) 2 (5) 3 (7) 1.0
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander 1 (1) 0 (0) 1 (2) 1.0
Black or African American 9 (11) 4 (11) 5 (12) 1.0
White 61 (75) 32 (84) 29 (67) 0.1
Antihypertensive medications
Beta blocker ACEi/ARB 75 (93) 37 (97) 38 (88) 0.2
Diuretic 45 (55) 25 (66) 20 (47) 0.1
Calcium channel blocker 22 (27) 13 (34) 9 (21) 0.6
31 (38) 12 (32) 19 (44) 0.3
Dissection data
Time since dissection (y) 3.5 (3) 4 (3) 3.1 (2) 0.7
Type A 51 (63) 25 (66) 26 (60) 0.4
Type B 25 (31) 10 (26) 15 (35) 0.5
Multiple dissections 5 (6) 3 (8) 2 (5) 0.7
Values are mean (interquartile range), n (%). ACEi: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor; ARB: angiotensin II receptor blockers.

Table 2. ABPM characteristics by exertional hypertension
Total Exertional hypertension No exertional hypertension
Variable P
(n = 70) (n = 13) (n = 24)
Mean SBP 119 (16) 122 (16) 114 (13) 0.13
Mean DBP 67 (12) 70 (11) 64 (6) 0.06
Day SBP 123 (18) 127 (14) 119 (16) 0.3
Day DBP 70 (12) 74 (9) 67 (5) 0.05*
Night SBP 111 (16) 111 (19) 103 (17) 0.12
Night DBP 61 (14) 62 (11) 58 (14) 0.22
Peak daytime SBP 157 (28) 178 (34) 154 (22) 0.01*
Pulse pressure 50 (12) 46 (10) 48 (17) 0.76
Daytime SBP COV 11 (4) 14 (4) 11 (4) 0.03*
Morning surge index (%) 16 (18) 18 (28) 18 (17) 0.78
Nocturnal dipping (%) 12 (12) 17 (10) 14 (9) 0.10
AASI 0.53 (0.16) 0.48 (0.08) 0.52 (0.16) 0.51

Values are mean (interquartile range). SBP: Systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; PP: pulse pressure; AASI: ambulatory arterial
stiffness index; COV: coefficient of variation. Exertional hypertension: SBP > 180 mmHg or DBP > 100 mmHg in > 1 exercise; *: ANOVA P < 0.05.

(100%), leg raise (100%), treadmill (97%), wall sit (95%), and cycle (87%). The rates for exercises with two
readings per participant from highest to lowest were hand grip (92%), leg raise (92%), treadmill (87%), wall
sit (84%), bicep curls (82%), and cycle (76%). The most frequent ABPM errors corresponded to excessive
arm movement or vibration [Supplementary Table 1]. Bracing the measurement arm successfully
suppressed most of these errors . We addressed the other major sources of error by changing ABPM cuff
[16]
size or refitting cuffs according to the manufacturer’s guidelines. To limit overexertion, we attempted
ABPM blood pressure readings a maximum number of two times before switching to manual auscultation.