[Possibilities of telemedicine in arterial hypertension]

Telemetric blood pressure measurement opens a new dimension of cooperation between physician and patient. It requires clearly defined therapeutic target values. Telemonitoring is judged positively by 93% of patients treated this way for its exact and long-lasting observation mode by the treating physician. A better control of hypertension is possible due to adaption of therapy over a long observation period and exact blood pressure data by the treating physician and a better adherence to therapy by the patients. Besides good technical and logistic feasibility, published studies show a high acceptance both on the part of patients and treating physicians. Randomized, controlled and prospective studies showed significantly better blood pressure control of telemetrically observed patients compared to standard care. Telemedicine was exceptionally effective when combined with regular individualized interventions like phone calls. These data have to be confirmed by large prospective studies including "hard" endpoints and economic aspects. Of special interest is the telemetric observation in high-risk hypertensive patients like those with coronary artery disease, heart failure, cerebrovascular complications, or hypertension in pregnancy.