Abstract
Blood pressure traditionally has been measured in the clinic setting using the auscultatory method and a mercury sphygmomanometer. Technologic advances have led to improvements in measuring clinic blood pressure and allowed for measuring blood pressures outside the clinic. This review outlines various methods for evaluating blood pressure and the clinical utility of each type of measurement. Home blood pressures and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressures have improved our ability to evaluate the risk of target-organ damage and hypertension-related morbidity and mortality. Measuring home blood pressures may lead to more active participation in health care by patients and has the potential to improve blood pressure control. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring enables measuring nighttime blood pressures and diurnal changes, which may be the most accurate predictors of risk associated with elevated blood pressure. Additionally, reducing nighttime blood pressure is feasible and may be an important component of effective antihypertensive therapy. Finally, estimating central aortic pressures and pulse wave velocity are 2 of the newer methods for assessing blood pressure and hypertension-related target-organ damage.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 449-462 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | American Journal of Kidney Diseases |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Support: This work was supported in part by a Career Development Award 1K23DK087919-01 (to Dr Drawz) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIDDK or the National Institutes of Health.
Keywords
- Blood pressure
- ambulatory blood pressure
- cardiovascular risk assessment
- home blood pressure