[Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for hypertension diagnosis?]

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Hypertension Research
• Diagnostic Methods

Background:

• Early and accurate hypertension diagnosis is vital for cardiovascular disease prevention.
• Conventional blood pressure (BP) measurement has limitations due to variability and measurement biases.
• Hypertension diagnosis boundaries are arbitrary, impacting treatment decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the prognostic superiority of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) in cardiovascular disease development.
• To emphasize ABPM's role in detecting white coat and masked hypertension.
• To discuss the growing recognition and recommendation of ABPM in international hypertension guidelines.

Main Methods:

• Review of studies comparing ABPM with conventional BP measurement.
• Analysis of ABPM's ability to detect specific hypertension subtypes (white coat, masked).
• Examination of ABPM's assessment of nighttime BP and circadian variability.

Main Results:

• ABPM demonstrates superior prognostic value for cardiovascular disease compared to clinic BP measurements.
• ABPM effectively identifies white coat hypertension, preventing overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
• ABPM detects masked hypertension, crucial for preventing underdiagnosis and undertreatment.
• ABPM provides additional prognostic information through nighttime BP and circadian variability assessment.

Conclusions:

• ABPM is a superior diagnostic tool for hypertension, offering enhanced prognostic value.
• International guidelines increasingly recognize and recommend ABPM for hypertension diagnosis.
• The widespread adoption of ABPM for hypertension management is anticipated.