[Measurement of arterial pressure]

The casual determination of blood pressure remains the basis of the diagnosis of arterial hypertension and the criteria for usefulness of drug therapy. The reference values usually in use concern determinations by the doctor in very well defined conditions, rest, size of the bladder, etc.... The poor reproductibility of the determinations made by the doctor in casual conditions has produced a large interest for new approaches: autodetermination by the patient at home, and ambulatory blood pressure determinations using automatic devices. These new approaches have their own reference values, specific indications and limitations.