title: [Blood pressure variability].
abstract: This review deals with a number of issues related to blood pressure variability. These include: historical aspects, with reference to the first pioneering observations; methodological aspects, focusing on the different methods for quantifying blood pressure variability; description of the characteristics of blood pressure variability over the 24 hours; mechanisms involved in determining the different magnitude of this phenomenon in different subjects, such as behavioral factors, central and reflex neural influences, humoral and mechanical factors; blood pressure variability as a probe to assess spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity; effects of aging and hypertension on blood pressure variability, with a discussion of the clinical relevance of this phenomenon in the prognostic evaluation of patients; effects of drugs on blood pressure variability. Finally methodological aspects related to the use of noninvasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in the assessment of blood pressure variability are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Ricerche Cardiologiche, Istituto Aulxologico Italianio, Università degli Studi Milano-Bicocca. gianfranco.parati@unimib.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parati
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tortorici
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Glavina
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zaniboni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gritti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Groppelli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castiglioni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Rienzo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mancia
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D017704:Baroreflex / Q000502:physiology; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology