Home and ambulatory blood pressure in resistant hypertension

Since their introduction in the clinical setting home and ambulatory blood pressure measurements have gained growing popularity in the diagnosis and treatment of essential hypertension for a number of reasons. These reasons include: 1) the lack of the so-called "white-coat effect", 2) the ability of the two approaches to provide information on blood pressure phenomena of prognostic value, and 3) the close relationship of the derived values with the risk of developing fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events. These features also apply to resistant hypertension, in which these approaches allow a precise definition of the diagnosis of this clinical condition, by excluding the presence of white-coat hypertension. Assessment of "out-of-office" blood pressure also allows us to define the patterns of blood pressure variability in this clinical condition as well as its relationships with target organ damage. Finally, home as well as ambulatory blood pressure measurements allow us to investigate the effects of therapeutic interventions, including those associated with the radiofrequency ablation of renal nerves. The present paper will provide a critical review of the main features of home and ambulatory blood pressure measurement in resistant hypertension, highlighting their main advantages as compared to office blood pressure. The prognostic significance, relationships with target organ damage and implications for treatment will also be discussed.