title: The clinical utility of blood pressure load in hypertension.
abstract: The variability of blood pressure and its consequences suggests that ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) data should be analyzed not only by mean ambulatory blood pressure (MABP), but also by looking at blood pressure load (BPL, the percentage of measurements > 140/90 mm Hg while awake and > 120/80 while asleep). In one study, several hypertensive patients whose ambulatory diastolic blood pressure was < 90 mm Hg had a diastolic load near 50%. Studies have reported strong correlations between BPL and indices of target-organ changes such as left ventricular mass index (LVMI). It was necessary to lower office blood pressure to < 85 mm Hg to reduce BPL to a normal range of 15 to 20%. To further investigate the usefulness of BPL in the study of hypertension, more longitudinal studies of cardiovascular disease and blood pressure variability are needed.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Zachariah
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Sumner
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015924:Blood Pressure Monitors; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*