Given the increasing use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in both clinical practice and hypertension research, a group of scientists, participating in the European Society of ...Hypertension Working Group on blood pressure monitoring and cardiovascular variability, in year 2013 published a comprehensive position paper dealing with all aspects of the technique, based on the available scientific evidence for ABPM. The present work represents an updated schematic summary of the most important aspects related to the use of ABPM in daily practice, and is aimed at providing recommendations for proper use of this technique in a clinical setting by both specialists and practicing physicians. The present article details the requirements and the methodological issues to be addressed for using ABPM in clinical practice, The clinical indications for ABPM suggested by the available studies, among which white-coat phenomena, masked hypertension, and nocturnal hypertension, are outlined in detail, and the place of home measurement of blood pressure in relation to ABPM is discussed. The role of ABPM in pharmacological, epidemiological, and clinical research is also briefly mentioned. Finally, the implementation of ABPM in practice is considered in relation to the situation of different countries with regard to the reimbursement and the availability of ABPM in primary care practices, hospital clinics, and pharmacies.
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is being used increasingly in both clinical practice and hypertension research. Although there are many guidelines that emphasize the indications for ABPM, ...there is no comprehensive guideline dealing with all aspects of the technique. It was agreed at a consensus meeting on ABPM in Milan in 2011 that the 34 attendees should prepare a comprehensive position paper on the scientific evidence for ABPM.This position paper considers the historical background, the advantages and limitations of ABPM, the threshold levels for practice, and the cost-effectiveness of the technique. It examines the need for selecting an appropriate device, the accuracy of devices, the additional information and indices that ABPM devices may provide, and the software requirements.At a practical level, the paper details the requirements for using ABPM in clinical practice, editing considerations, the number of measurements required, and the circumstances, such as obesity and arrhythmias, when particular care needs to be taken when using ABPM.The clinical indications for ABPM, among which white-coat phenomena, masked hypertension, and nocturnal hypertension appear to be prominent, are outlined in detail along with special considerations that apply in certain clinical circumstances, such as childhood, the elderly and pregnancy, and in cardiovascular illness, examples being stroke and chronic renal disease, and the place of home measurement of blood pressure in relation to ABPM is appraised.The role of ABPM in research circumstances, such as pharmacological trials and in the prediction of outcome in epidemiological studies is examined and finally the implementation of ABPM in practice is considered in relation to the issue of reimbursement in different countries, the provision of the technique by primary care practices, hospital clinics and pharmacies, and the growing role of registries of ABPM in many countries.
Blood pressure (BP) measurement in clinicians' offices with a mercury sphygmomanometer has numerous drawbacks. In contrast, the use of home BP measurement improves measurement precision and ...reproducibility. However, data about its prognostic value are lacking.
To assess the prognostic value of home vs office BP measurement by general practitioners in a European population of elderly patients being treated for hypertension.
Office and home BP and cardiac risk factors were measured at baseline in a cohort of 4939 treated hypertensive patients (mean age, 70 SD, 6.5 years; 48.9% men) who were recruited and followed up by their usual general practitioners without specific recommendations about their management. The cohort was then followed up for a mean of 3.2 (SD, 0.5) years. The thresholds defining uncontrolled hypertension were at least 140/90 mm Hg for office BP and 135/85 mm Hg for home BP.
The primary end point was cardiovascular mortality. Secondary end points were total mortality and the combination of cardiovascular mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, transient ischemic attack, hospitalization for angina or heart failure, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
At the end of follow-up, clinical status was known for 99.9% of patients. At least 1 cardiovascular event had occurred in 324 (incidence, 22.2/1000 patient-years). For BP self-measurement at home, each 10-mm Hg increase in systolic BP increased the risk of a cardiovascular event by 17.2% (95% confidence interval CI, 11.0%-23.8%) and each 5-mm Hg increase in diastolic BP increased that risk by 11.7% (95% CI, 5.7%-18.1%). Conversely, for the same increase in BP observed using office measurement, there was no significant increase in the risk of a cardiovascular event. In a multivariable model with patients having controlled hypertension (normal home and office BP) as the referent, the hazard ratio of cardiovascular events was 1.96 (95% CI, 1.27-3.02) in patients with uncontrolled hypertension (high BP with both measurement methods), 2.06 (95% CI, 1.22-3.47) in patients with normal office BP and elevated home BP, and 1.18 (95% CI, 0.67-2.10) in patients with elevated office BP and normal home BP.
Our findings suggest that home BP measurement has a better prognostic accuracy than office BP measurement. Blood pressure should systematically be measured at home in patients receiving treatment for hypertension.
Study objectives: To characterize carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque occurrence in patients with newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) without known cardiovascular disease.
...Design: Prospective study.
Setting: Sleep Laboratory and Department of Cardiology of Grenoble University Hospital.
Patients and intervention: OSA syndrome is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. Carotid IMT is recognized as a marker of preclinic atheroma. A small number of studies have analyzed large-artery wall modifications in OSA syndrome. Eighty-three patients (74 men; mean age ± SD, 48 ± 11 years; mean body mass index, 27.4 ± 4.2 kg/m2) were included. Mean respiratory disturbance index was 40.7 ± 19.2/h, mean nocturnal arterial oxygen saturation (Sao2) was 93.1 ± 2.0%, and mean percentage of recording time spent at Sao2< 90% was 8.6 ± 16.8%. Clinical BP was measured following European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology recommendations, and 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring was assessed. Ultrasonography was used to determine the carotid IMT and atheromatous plaque occurrence.
Measurements and results: Twenty-five of 83 patients (30%) had carotid wall hypertrophy (IMT > 0.8 mm). In a logistic regression model, mean nocturnal Sao2< 92% (odds ratio OR, 3.9; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.1 to 12.7) was associated with carotid wall hypertrophy. ORs were even higher after adjustment for BP status (OR, 10.6; 95% CI, 1.6 to 50.9 in normotensive patients) and glucose levels (OR, 4.5; 95% CI, 1.0 to 20.9). Mean nocturnal Sao2< 92% and minimal nocturnal Sao2< 80% (ORs, 3.1 and 3.1; 95% CIs, 1.0 to 9.4 and 1.0 to 8.5, respectively) were associated with the presence of carotid plaque formation independently of the BP status (hypertensive or normotensive).
Conclusions: The severity of oxygen desaturation appears to be one of the best predictors for carotid IMT and plaque occurrence in OSA patients without known cardiovascular disease. Thus, carotid IMT and plaque formation appeared as early cardiovascular consequences in OSA patients.
In newly diagnosed apnoeic patients without a history of hypertension, clinical hypertension is underdiagnosed in at least 40% of the cases. An increase in diastolic blood pressure is the most ...frequent pattern encountered.
To assess clinic and 24-h blood pressure, baroreflex sensitivity and left ventricular mass for identifying the prevalence, the type and the consequences of hypertension in newly diagnosed apnoeic patients.
Fifty-nine unselected patients (age = 48 +/- 12 years, body mass index = 28.1 +/- 4.5 kg/m2) referred to a university hospital sleep laboratory for symptoms suggesting obstructive sleep apnoea were included. Diagnosis of apnoea was accepted when respiratory disturbance index was > or = 15/h of sleep. Blood pressure was considered as normal by their general practitioner and all of them were free of any medication for hypertension. Echocardiography, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and assessment of the baroreflex sensitivity were performed.
Forty-two percent of the apnoeic patients demonstrated a clinical hypertension, 34 subjects (58%) had a daytime hypertension, and 45 patients (76%) had a night-time hypertension, using 24-h monitoring. All the daytime hypertensives also had night-time hypertension. Forty-seven of the 59 patients (80%) were hypertensive either in the clinic or using 24-h recording. Diastolic and systolo-diastolic hypertension were the prominent types of hypertension observed both by clinic or ambulatory measurements. Respiratory disturbance index was significantly higher in apnoeic patients suffering isolated diastolic hypertension than in the normotensives (50.9 +/- 26.5/h versus 36.0 +/- 12.3/h, respectively; P = 0.02). The prevalence rate of left ventricular hypertrophy was high (between 15 and 20%) and occurred independently of associated hypertension. Baroreflex sensitivity was altered whatever the type of hypertension and decreased with the severity of obstructive sleep apnoea.
Hypertension is hugely underdiagnosed in apnoeic patients unknown to be hypertensive. Use of 24-h blood pressure monitoring allowed the diagnosis of twice as much hypertension than did clinical measurement. Even at the beginning of their history of hypertension, apnoeic patients exhibited chronic adaptations of their cardiovascular system, as shown by early changes in baroreflex sensitivity and an increased prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy.
Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring (ABPM) detects subjects with normal clinic but high ambulatory 24-h BP, that is, masked hypertension.
One hundred and thirty newly diagnosed obstructive ...sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) patients, free of recognized cardiovascular disease were included (111 men, age = 48 +/- 1 years, BMI = 27.6 +/- 0.4 kg/m, respiratory disturbance index (RDI = 42 +/- 2/h). Clinic BP, 24-h ABPM, baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), echocardiography and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were assessed.
Forty-one patients (31.5%) were normotensive, 39 (30.0%) exhibited masked hypertension, four (3.1%) white-coat hypertension and 46 (35.4%) hypertension. Significant differences were found between normotensive, masked hypertensive and hypertensive patients in terms of BRS (10.5 +/- 0.8, 8.0 +/- 0.6 and 7.4 +/- 0.4 ms/mmHg, respectively, P < 0.001), carotid IMT (624 +/- 17, 650 +/- 20 and 705 +/- 23 microm, respectively, P = 0.04) and left ventricular mass index (37 +/- 1, 40 +/- 2 and 43 +/- 1 g/height2.7, respectively, P = 0.003). A clinic systolic BP more than 125 and a diastolic BP more than 83 mmHg led to a relative risk (RR) of 2.7 and a 90% positive predictive value for having masked hypertension.
Masked hypertension is frequently underestimated in OSAS and is nearly always present when clinic BP is above 125/83 mmHg.
The prognostic value of baroreflex sensitivity in hypertensive patients has not much been studied.
A cohort of 451 hypertensive patients without cardiovascular history was studied for an average of ...6.2 +/- 2.8 years follow-up. Each patient had a baroreflex sensitivity measurement by the sequence method, which is represented by the slope of up-sequences (systolic blood pressure+/pulse interval+) and down-sequences (systolic blood pressure-/pulse interval-) of spontaneous fluctuations in systolic blood pressure and pulse interval.
During the follow-up, there were 20 deaths from any cause and 30 patients presented a major adverse cardiovascular event. Deaths and major adverse cardiovascular events were associated with a reduction in baroreflex sensitivity (systolic blood pressure+/pulse interval+ and systolic blood pressure-/pulse interval-). In multivariate analysis, the reduction in baroreflex sensitivity systolic blood pressure+/pulse interval+ was associated with an increased risk of deaths from any cause (Odds ratio 1.23; 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.67, P = 0.04). A baroreflex sensitivity systolic blood pressure+/pulse interval+ under 4.5 ms/mmHg was associated with a 2.5-increased relative risk of major adverse cardiovascular event (95% confidence interval 1.11-5.93, P = 0.03). However, multivariate analysis showed that baroreflex sensitivity systolic blood pressure-/pulse interval- was not associated either with death or major adverse cardiovascular events.
Reduction in baroreflex sensitivity marked by a reduction in vagal reflexes is an independent marker of the risk of mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients.
Hypertension, one of the major cardiovascular risk factors, promotes the formation of atheromatous lesions in the large arteries, including the aorta. It also favors aortic aneurysm and acute aortic ...syndrome such as aortic dissection or hematoma. In patients with aortic disease, beta-blockers and/or renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors should be preferentially used to decrease blood pressure and improve arterial wall properties.
In this paper, we present the results of a reanalysis of the data of two large randomized, double-blind, parallel group studies with a similar design, comparing the efficacy of an ...angiotensin-receptor blocker (olmesartan medoxomil) with that of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ramipril), by applying two different blood pressure targets recently recommended by hypertension guidelines for all patients, irrespective of the presence of diabetes (<140/90 mmHg), and for elderly hypertensive patients (<150/90 mmHg). The efficacy of olmesartan was not negatively affected by age, sex, hypertension type, diabetes status or other concomitant clinical conditions, or cardiovascular risk factors. In most cases, olmesartan provided better blood pressure control than ramipril. Olmesartan was significantly more effective than ramipril in male patients, in younger patients (aged 65-69 years), in those with metabolic syndrome, obesity, dyslipidemia, preserved renal function, diastolic ± systolic hypertension, and, in general, in patients with a high or very high cardiovascular risk. Interestingly, patients previously untreated or treated with two or more antihypertensive drugs showed a significantly larger response with olmesartan than with ramipril. Thus, our results confirm the good efficacy of olmesartan in elderly hypertensives even when new blood pressure targets for antihypertensive treatment are considered. Such results may be relevant for the clinical practice, providing some hint on the possible different response of elderly hypertensive patients to two different drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system, when patients are targeted according to the blood pressure levels recommended by recent hypertension guidelines.
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