The monthly ESH guide through publications

Increased risk of progression to sustained hypertension in patients with white coat and masked hypertension White-coat and masked hypertension are two not clearly defined entities with respect to their clinical impact. A study by Sivén SS et al. investigated the risk of progression to sustained hypertension among a total of 944 patients of the FinnHome study with either normotension (n=528) or white-coat HT (n=142) or masked HT(n=63) that were followed for 11 years. Rate of progression to sustained HT increased from 18% in normotension to 52% in white-coat HT to73% in masked HT. These rates increased progressively with increasing home and office BP. After adjusting for other cardiovascular risk factors (sex, age, smoking, BMI, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia) the relative risk among patients with white-coat HT was 2.8 (95% CI 2.2-3.6) and those with masked HT was 3.8 (95% CI 2.9-5.0). The authors conclude that white-coat and masked HT are not benign phenomena and such patients require close follow-up and lifestyle evaluation.