title: Utility of 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in clinical practice.
abstract: The technique of noninvasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was first described more than 30 years ago, but is only now becoming accepted as a clinically useful procedure for the evaluation of patients with abnormal blood pressure regulation. This applies mostly to those with known or suspected high blood pressure, but also includes the less common situation of low blood pressure. In addition to providing a better estimate of the average or true blood pressure, ambulatory monitoring may reveal changes in the variations in blood pressure over 24 h that would not be detected by more conventional measurement techniques. The two most important aspects are alterations in the pattern of the diurnal rhythm of blood pressure and short term blood pressure variability.
mesh_terms: D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis