Can short-term recording of blood pressure in supine patients replace ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

Summary

In this study, blood pressures were recorded in 29 patients with mild to moderate hypertension using three different monitoring techniques. Casual blood pressures were measured while the patients were seated using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer. The Arteriosonde or the Dina-map blood pressure recorder was used in each patient to measure blood pressure for 3 hours at 5 minute intervals while the patients remained in the supine position. In addition, blood pressure was recorded in ambulatory patients during 12 hours at 30 minute intervals using the Portometer (Remler). The averages of blood pressures obtained with the various techniques were compared. Casual blood pressure was significantly higher than blood pressure measured by the semiautomatic devices; however, data from the Portometer and Arteriosonde were found to be very close to each other. The histograms of blood pressure averages obtained using both monitoring techniques do largely overlap. Casual blood pressure was localized on the 85° percentile of the histograms.

From these data it can be concluded that casual blood pressure is far from ideal for identifying the patients’ blood pressure level. Three hours of blood pressure recording in supine patients may be a convenient and cheap alternative to ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in the assessment of the blood pressure level in hypertensive subjects.