Diurnal variations in blood pressure: importance of ambulatory BP monitoring.

Fig. 1 : (a) Showing normal diurnal pattern in a normal person. Night time is shown as dark on time scale. SBP as well as DBP dip at night. (b) Showing inadequate nocturnal dip in a person with normal day time BP. (c) Showing nocturnal hypertension in a person with only transient episodes of hypertension during day. Fig. 2 : (a) Showing normal day time BP with over dipping at night. SBP falling as low as 64mmHg (arrow). DBP falling as low as 32mmHg (double arrow). (b) Showing abnormal post prandrial dipping after breakfast (B-one arrow), lunch (L-two arrows) and dinner (D-3 arrows). (c) Showing nearly normal BP throughout day and night with abnormal early morning rise (arrow) in SBP as well DBP. Fig. 3 : (a) Showing normal BP with transient rise during morning (around 11AM) and evening (around 6PM) ward round by doctor (arrows). Nocturnal dip in systolic BP is inadequate. (b) Showing hypertension only during early 6 hours of day. BP was normal in remaining part of day and night. Clinic visit during evening hours always recorded normal BP. (c) Shows transient elevations of BP during early hours of day. BP started rising in afternoon and remained elevated throughout night.