Is 24-hour average blood pressure and specific blood pressure patterns superior to office blood pressure in relation to hypertension target organ damage?
This review highlights the potential superiority of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and specific diurnal blood pressure patterns over traditional office blood pressure in assessing hypertension target organ damage.
Several papers have suggested that 24-hour average blood pressure (BP) is superior to office BP in relation to hypertension target organ damage. This review article will specifically address the evidence provided in this regard by either cross-sectional or longitudinal studies. It will also critically discuss the available data supporting the concept that not only 24-hour average BP values, but also specific BP patterns occurring within the 24 hours may have clinical relevance. This is the case for daytime versus nighttime BP, the day/night BP difference, the morning BP rise, and overall BP variability.
Mancia et al. (Wed,) studied this question.