[Course in time of the blood pressure profile in effort]

Blood-pressure (BP) responses to exercise are worth studying to evaluate the cardiovascular adjustment ability of hypertensive subjects whose daily activities include important physical performances. Some authors also consider that they have a predictive value. Changes in exercise BP over a period of more than 3 years (mean: 5.2 +/- 2.26 years) were studied in 225 subjects, some of whom had normal BP while others had untreated borderline or moderate hypertension. Globally, the mean values of diastolic pressure, heart rate, exacerbated response and BP profile remained remarkably stable with time despite significant differences in some groups of subjects. When each subject was considered separately, a normal BP response to exercise had a very high predictive value, since systolic and diastolic pressure which were normal at the first examination remained normal at the second examination in 85 p. 100 and 93 p. 100 respectively of the subjects. The reproducibility with time of response to exercise is an additional incentive to perform this type of examination.