Blood pressure profile and cardiac risk in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy.

A study of normotensive volunteers and patients with primary hypertension demonstrated the superiority of a single 24-h mean systolic and diastolic ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (SpaceLabs 90207 ABPM) over standardized sphygmomanometric casual readings. In contrast to the casual blood pressure measurement there was a significant correlation between both 24-h mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures and left ventricular hypertrophy as assessed by two-dimensional M-mode echocardiography. Although no significant differences between daytime and night-time blood pressure were demonstrated in normotensive or hypertensive subjects with or without target organ damage, larger prospective trials are required to confirm this finding.