[Blood pressure should not exclusively be measured during daytime]

24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring has major advantages over conventional BP measurement. The capacity to monitor BP throughout the full 24-hour allows the uncovering of abnormal nocturnal BP patterns. The current evidence shows that nighttime BP better reflects risk than daytime BP. Therefore, it is essential to control both daytime and nighttime BP to maximise the beneficial effects on clinical outcome of antihypertensive therapy. 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring represents a unique tool to establish the most appropriate antihypertensive drug regimen for the individual patient.