[When in doubt, 24-hour monitoring. When 24-hour blood pressure monitoring is indicated].
Not only doctor's office hypertension, but also, conversely, doctor's office normotension can be detected by 24-hour blood pressure measurement. A diagnostic improvement is also achieved in patients with borderline or mild hypertension. A number of illnesses are associated with nocturnal blood pressure elevation. In particular patients with secondary hypertension experience this reversal of the usual decrease in blood pressure at night. In such cases, non-invasive 24-hour blood pressure measurement may provide the first evidence. In pregnant women in particular, untreated hypertension may have serious consequences. In such cases, close monitoring of blood pressure and treatment by long-term measurement is also of prognostic significance. Also, in patients with concomitant diseases, such as diabetes mellitus or renal disease, 24-hour blood pressure measurement for monitoring purposes should be done more often than in patients with a low risk profile.
Lüders
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S
St. Josefs-Hospital, Cloppenburg. slclp@t-online.de
D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity