24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

Abstract

This paper reviews technical, methodological and clinical aspects of ambulatory blood pressure (aBP) monitoring. It describes deficits in the evaluation of available aBP devices and in the description and interpretation of slow (e.g. seasonal or circadian) and fast blood pressure variations. The ongoing discussion about the mere existence of circadian blood pressure rhythms is reflected, referring to the most recent data. Further methodological questions considered encompass the problem of centrality (how to describe an aBP profile with one numerical measure) and the question of variability (how to describe variance within an aBP profile). Good reasons for the use of MESOR or RMSSD parameters are given. Finally, the evidence behind a broad clinical application of aBP measurements is critically reviewed; except for ‘white coat’ hypertension, the clinical superiority of aBP values compared with office and home blood pressure readings is not well established on epidemiological grounds.