The value of measuring blood pressure in the clinic is debatable, especially when it is done by doctors. Inherent variability means that true changes in blood pressure can be difficult to detect using clinic readings. Furthermore, misclassification on the basis of clinic readings can occur in people with “normal” underlying blood pressure who are labelled as hypertensive because of the pressor ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The prevalence of hypertension in Portugal is between 29.1% and 42.2%. International studies show that 13% of individuals have masked hypertension and 13% of diagnoses based on office blood pressure measurements are in fact white coat hypertension. More sensitive and specific blood pressure measuring methods could avoid costs associated with misdiagnosis. The aim of ...

OBJECTIVE(S) We compared a convenient, cuffless, wrist-type ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) device (BPro) and a standard arm-type ABPM monitor under ambulatory conditions. METHODS Fifty normotensive and prehypertensive volunteers who had no interarm differences in BP were enrolled. The wrist and arm monitors were attached to the left wrist and the right arm, respectively, and prov...

We sought to compare left ventricular deformation in subjects with white-coat hypertension to normotensive and sustained hypertensive patients. This cross-sectional study included 139 untreated subjects who underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and completed 2- and 3-dimensional examination. Two-dimensional left ventricular multilayer strain analysis was also performed. White-c...

BACKGROUND Ambulatory and/or home monitoring are recommended in the UK and the US for the diagnosis of hypertension but little is known about their acceptability. AIM To determine the acceptability of different methods of measuring blood pressure to people from different minority ethnic groups. DESIGN AND SETTING Cross-sectional study with focus groups in primary care in the West Midlands. ...

Background Automated techniques of blood pressure (BP) measurement are increasingly being used to diagnose white-coat hypertension [1,2]. Compared to conventional blood pressure (CBP) measurement by the Korotkoff method, they are more reproducible and not subject to digit preference or observer bias. Self-measurement of the blood pressure at home (HBP) is less expensive than ambulatory blood pr...

BACKGROUND Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) has proven to be a superior predictor of morbid events when compared to clinic or office blood pressure measurement (CBPM). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of ABPM in a sample of 14 414 people referred for management of cardiovascular risk. METHODS In this paper we describe the methodology required to examin...

Noninvasive intermittent blood pressure monitoring was first developed 30 years ago.' It is now evolving from its former role as a somewhat esoteric research tool to becoming a clinically useful procedure for the evaluation ofhypertensive patients. In this review we outline its historical development, compare noninvasive 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring with the other available meth...