Long-term BP Monitoring in the Evaluation of Antihypertensive Therapy

Noninvasive BP monitoring was performed in hypertensive patients before and during placebo therapy and before and during therapy with the long-acting peripheral alpha-adrenergic receptor antagonist, terazosin hydrochloride. Placebo therapy did not result in significant changes in casual BP or in averages of whole-day, daytime, or nighttime BPs. Short-term therapy with terazosin did not induce significant changes in casual supine or daytime BPs. However, whole-day BP monitoring disclosed that nighttime BPs were lower during shortterm therapy. Moreover, the circadian pattern of BP was shifted downward during terazosin therapy. Long-term therapy with terazosin resulted in significant changes in BP. All BP values were lowered significantly. The differences in the circadian BP pattern between placebo and long-term terazosin therapy show that in these patients BP was lowered throughout the 24 hours of the day. The results of the study emphasize the usefulness of 24-hour BP monitoring in the evaluation of the effectiveness of long-acting antihypertensive agents.