Does ambulatory blood pressure monitoring provide better assessment of cardiovascular risk and hypertension phenotypes compared to traditional office-based measurement?
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is highlighted as a superior tool for predicting cardiovascular risk and diagnosing specific hypertension phenotypes compared to traditional office measurements.
The accurate assessment and appropriate management of blood pressure (BP) is critical for primary care physicians. Traditional office-based BP measurement has limitations that can be addressed, in part, through the use of ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). Because BP readings are provided at specific time intervals throughout a 24-hour period, ABPM represents a better picture of the normal fluctuations in BP levels associated with daily activities, including sleep. Blood pressure values obtained by 24-hour ABPM are a better predictor of cardiovascular risk than office-based BP measurements, and the technique can be used to discern white-coat hypertension and to evaluate masked, resistant, and pseudoresistant hypertension. It can also be helpful in the assessment of autonomic dysfunction and monitoring of a patient's response to antihypertensive therapy. Ambulatory BP monitoring is also being increasingly used in clinical trials that assess the antihypertensive effects of medications.
Randy Wexler (Sat,) studied this question.