[Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for hypertension diagnosis?] / ¿Monitorización ambulatoria de la presión arterial en el diagnóstico de la hipertensión arterial?

The early and accurate diagnosis of hypertension is essential given its importance in the development of cardiovascular disease. The boundaries between normal blood pressure (BP) and hypertension are arbitrary and based on the benefits of treating exceeding those of not treating. Conventional BP measurement at the clinic only offers information of a particular time and presents multiple biases dependent on inherent variability of BP and measurement technique itself. Multiple studies have demonstrated the prognosis superiority in the development of cardiovascular disease of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), allows detection of white coat hypertension, avoiding overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and the detection of patients with masked hypertension who are at risk of underdetection and undertreatment. ABPM also assess nightime BP and circadian variability, providing additional prognostic value. ABPM is recognized in the diagnosis of hypertension in 2011 British NICE Guidelines, very argued at the 2013 European Society of Hypertension guidelines, and recommended in the US Preventive Services Task Force in 2015, 2016 Canadian Guidelines and the 2016 Spanish Program of Preventive Activities and Health Promotion (PAPPS). Its generalization is likely to be only a matter of time.

[Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is a useful tool for all patients]. / La monitorización ambulatoria de la presión arterial es un instrumento aconsejable para todos los pacientes.

Clinical blood pressure measurement (BP) is an occasional and imperfect way of estimating this biological variable. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is by far the best clinical tool for measuring an individual's blood pressure. Mean values over 24h, through the daytime and at night all make it more possible to predict organic damage and the future development of the disorder. ABPM enables the detection of white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension in both the diagnosis and follow-up of treated patients. Although some of the advantages of ABPM can be reproduced by more automated measurement without the presence of an observer in the clinic or self-measurement at home, there are some other elements of great interest that are unique to ABPM, such as seeing what happens to a patient's BP at night, the night time dipping pattern and short-term variability, all of which relate equally to the patient's prognosis. There is no scientific or clinical justification for denying these advantages, and ABPM should form part of the evaluation and follow-up of practically all hypertensive patients. Rather than continuing unhelpful discussions as to its availability and acceptability, we should concentrate our efforts on ensuring its universal availability and clearly explaining its advantages to both doctors and patients.

Aspectos clínicos actuales del monitoreo ambulatorio de presión arterial / Current clinical aspects of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

Resumen La hipertensión arterial sistémica es la enfermedad de mayor prevalencia a nivel mundial que incrementa de forma importante el riesgo cardiovascular. Un diagnóstico temprano, junto al logro de metas, disminuye de forma importante el riesgo de complicaciones. Recientemente se han actualizado los criterios diagnósticos para la hipertensión, así como la introducción del monitoreo ambulatorio de presión arterial. La introducción en la práctica clínica del monitoreo ambulatorio de presión arterial fue para ayudar al diagnóstico de la "hipertensión de bata blanca" y la "hipertensión enmascarada". En la actualidad también se ha demostrado que el monitoreo ambulatorio de presión arterial es superior al método tradicional de registro de presión arterial en el consultorio, tanto para el diagnóstico como para el adecuado control y ajuste del tratamiento farmacológico. Además se han introducido nuevos conceptos de suma importancia como la hipertensión arterial nocturna aislada, la elevación matutina alterada de la presión arterial y los patrones alterados de descenso nocturno de la presión arterial; los cuales se han asociado a un incremento de riesgo cardiovascular. Varios estudios han mostrado relevante valor pronóstico en algunas poblaciones. Aún existen otros conceptos en los cuales hace falta un mayor estudio para establecer adecuadamente su introducción en la práctica clínica como la carga hipertensiva, la variabilidad, la presión de pulso y la rigidez arterial; además de establecer valores de acuerdo a más estudios clínicos en poblaciones como pacientes geriátricos y niños.

Abstract Systemic arterial hypertension is the prevalentest disease worldwide that significantly increases cardiovascular risk. An early diagnosis together to achieve goals decreases the risk of complications significatly. Recently have been updated the diagnostic criteria for hypertension and the introduction of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. The introduction into clinical practice of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was to assist the diagnosis of "white coat hypertension" and "masked hypertension". Today has also shown that ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is better than the traditional method of recording blood pressure in the office, to the diagnosis and to adequate control and adjustment of drug treatment. Also there have been introduced important new concepts such as isloted nocturnal hypertension, morning blood pressure elevation altered and altered patterns of nocturnal dip in blood pressure; which have been associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Several studies have shown significant prognostic value in some stocks. There are still other concepts on which further study is needed to properly establish their introduction to clinical practice as hypertensive load variability, pulse pressure and arterial stiffness. In addition to setting values according to further clinical studies in populations such as elderly and children.

[Current clinical aspects of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring]. / Aspectos clínicos actuales del monitoreo ambulatorio de presión arterial.

Systemic arterial hypertension is the prevalentest disease worldwide that significantly increases cardiovascular risk. An early diagnosis together to achieve goals decreases the risk of complications significatly. Recently have been updated the diagnostic criteria for hypertension and the introduction of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. The introduction into clinical practice of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was to assist the diagnosis of «white coat hypertension¼ and «masked hypertension¼. Today has also shown that ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is better than the traditional method of recording blood pressure in the office, to the diagnosis and to adequate control and adjustment of drug treatment. Also there have been introduced important new concepts such as isloted nocturnal hypertension, morning blood pressure elevation altered and altered patterns of nocturnal dip in blood pressure; which have been associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Several studies have shown significant prognostic value in some stocks. There are still other concepts on which further study is needed to properly establish their introduction to clinical practice as hypertensive load variability, pulse pressure and arterial stiffness. In addition to setting values according to further clinical studies in populations such as elderly and children.

[Clinical utility of home blood pressure monitoring in patients under treatment]. / Utilidad clínica de la monitorización domiciliaria de la presión arterial en pacientes bajo tratamiento.

INTRODUCTION: A low number of patients who are treated with antihypertensive drugs achieve therapeutic goals. Home blood pressure monitoring is an excellent tool for studying this population. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of patients with controlled and uncontrolled hypertension, as well as white-coat-effect and masked hypertension, and to evaluate the relationship with target organ damage in different groups. METHODS: Blood pressure readings were performed simultaneously in the clinic and in the home using the same validated oscillometric equipment on 83 hypertensive patients on treatment with 2 or more antihypertensive drugs. They were then classified into 4 groups according to the cut-off values of the clinic and home blood pressure measurements. Left ventricular mass index, carotid intima media thickness, and microalbuminuria as markers of target organ damage, were also evaluated. RESULTS: Controlled blood pressure was present in 32.5%, 30.2% had sustained hypertension. The white coat effect was seen in 26.5%, while 10.8% were masked uncontrolled hypertension. Left ventricular mass index was higher in patients with no ambulatory control compared to controlled patients, and carotid IMT was also higher too in uncontrolled and white coat effect groups than controlled patients. CONCLUSIONS: More than one third of our patients who were treated with 2 or more drugs were not properly controlled, and they had significantly greater target organ damage than controlled patients.

Validity and applicability of a new recording method for hypertension.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Blood pressure measurement methods and conditions are determinants of hypertension diagnosis. A recent British guideline recommends systematic 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. However, these devices are not available at all health centers and they can only be used by 1 patient per day. The aim of this study was to test a new blood pressure recording method to see if it gave the same diagnostic results as 24-h blood pressure monitoring. METHODS: One-hour blood pressure monitoring under routine clinical practice conditions was compared with standard method of day time recording by analyzing the coefficient of correlation and Bland-Altman plots. The Kappa index was used to calculate degree of agreement. Method sensitivity and specificity were also analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 102 participants, 89 (87.3%) obtained the same diagnosis regardless of method, with high between-method agreement (κ= 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.71-0.91). We observed robust correlations between diastolic (r=0.85) and systolic blood pressure (r=0.76) readings. Sensitivity and specificity for the new method for diagnosing white coat hypertension were 85.2% (95% confidence interval 67.5%-94.1%) and 92% (95% confidence interval, 83.6%-96.3%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: One-hour blood pressure monitoring is a valid and reliable method for diagnosing hypertension and for classifying hypertension subpopulations, especially in white coat hypertension and refractory hypertension. This also leads to a more productive use of monitoring instruments.

Uso del monitoreo ambulatorio de la presión arterial en la evaluación clínica de la hipertensión arterial / Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in the clinic evaluation of arterial hypertension

La presión arterial, al igual que otros eventos de importancia biológica en nuestro organismo, sigue un ritmo circadiano normalmente, por lo que ésta fluctúa durante las 24 horas del día. Para establecer la eficacia del tratamiento antihipertensivo, se deberá demostrar que dicho tratamiento mantiene controlada la presión arterial en los diferentes momentos del día y la noche, por lo cual se ha utilizado el monitoreo ambulatorio de la presión arterial (MAPA) o “holter de presión,” como una herramienta indispensable en la evaluación clínica de la hipertensión arterial.

The arterial pressure, the same as others events of biologic importance in our organism, follow a normally circadian rhythm, and fluctuate during 24 hours of day. For establish the efficiency ofantihypertensive treatment, should be demonstrated that treatment keep under control the arterial pressure in the different moments of day and night, this is the reason why used an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring like a essential tool in the evaluation of arterial hypertension.