AMBULATORY BLOOD-PRESSURE MONITORING - VALUES IN NORMOTENSIVE PATIENTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR INTERPRETATION

We performed 24 hours ambulatory blood pressure monitoring with non invasive devices in 233 normotensive patients during a workday. Their age ranged from 21 to 74 years (mean +/- standard deviation = 39 +/- 11, 37 % females). These patients were mainly recruited on their workplace. Blood pressure monitoring was proposed to all volunteers without any history of hypertension, independently of the casual blood pressure measured by a doctor after 10 minutes sitting, just before monitoring. Patients were asked to note precisely their bedtime and the moment of getting up and to start a blood pressure measurement as getting up. This measure was used as the starting point of the 24 hours blood pressure curve for each patient. Pooling all patients in that way shows an important rise of blood pressure as standing up but no significant variation before. So we calculated the average blood pressure during the true time of activity and of bedrest for each block of 10 years from 20 to 60 years, separately for men and women. These values may be used as a guide when interpreting 24 hours blood pressure recordings.