Home blood pressure monitoring alone vs. combined clinic and ambulatory measurements in following treatment-induced changes in blood pressure and organ damage.

Background: Out-of-office blood pressure (BP) measurement using home BP (HBP) or ambulatory BP (ABP) monitoring is often necessary for the accurate evaluation of hypertension. These methods have several similarities but also have major differences. Therefore, they are regarded as complementary, and there is uncertainty on how they should be applied in clinical practice.

Feasibility and reproducibility of noninvasive 24-h ambulatory aortic blood pressure monitoring with a brachial cuff-based oscillometric device.

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests the potential superiority of office aortic blood pressure (BP) over brachial in the management of arterial hypertension. The noninvasive aortic 24-h ambulatory brachial BP monitoring (ABPM) is potentially the optimal method for assessing BP profile. The objective of the present study was to investigate the feasibility and reproducibility to perform noninvasively 24-h aortic ABPM with a novel validated brachial cuff-based automatic oscillometric device (Mobilo-O-Graph) which records brachial BP and waveforms and assesses aortic BP via mathematical transformation.

Sodium handling is associated with liver function impairment and renin-aldosterone axis activity in patients with preascitic cirrhosis without hyponatremia.

Background: In cirrhotic patients awaiting liver transplantation, serum sodium concentration is related to prognosis. However, abnormalities in sodium homeostasis are evident even in the early preascitic stage of cirrhosis. We aimed to investigate whether parameters of renal sodium handling (serum sodium, urinary sodium and fractional exertion of sodium (FeNa%) correlate with markers of liver function and renin-aldosterone axis activity in patients with preascitic cirrhosis without hyponatremia.

Relationship of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate with markers of hepatic function in cirrhotic patients.

Background: There is evidence that in cirrhotic patients, certain hemodynamic parameters, such as blood pressure and heart rate, are related to the severity of liver disease. This study investigated whether non-invasive 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate are more closely associated with markers of liver disease severity than conventional office measurements.

Methods: Ambulatory patients with cirrhosis underwent office blood pressure and heart rate measurements, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and blood laboratory tests.

Validation of the Microlife Watch BP Office professional device for office blood pressure measurement according to the International protocol.

Objective: To assess the accuracy of oscillometric and auscultatory blood pressure (BP) measurement taken using the professional electronic device Microlife Watch BP Office according to the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol.

Methods: Thirty-three participants were included for the assessment of each measurement mode (oscillometric and auscultatory). Simultaneous BP measurements were taken by two observers (mercury sphygmomanometers) four times, sequentially with three measurements taken using the tested device.

Automated device that complies with current guidelines for office blood pressure measurement: design and pilot application study of the Microlife WatchBP Office device.

Objective: Current guidelines for office blood pressure (BP) measurement recommend mercury devices, both arms measurement in the initial assessment and at least duplicate measurements at follow-up visits. This study presents the design and a pilot application study of an automated device that fulfils American, European, and International guidelines for office BP measurement.

Design And Functions: The Microlife WatchBP Office is a professional electronic mercury-free device with three function modes designed for: (a) initial assessment: triplicate automated simultaneous oscillometric both arms measurement at 60-s intervals and when there is a consistent interarm difference more than 20 mmHg systolic and/or more than 10 mmHg diastolic, the arm with the higher BP is indicated.

Validation of the A&D UM-101 professional hybrid device for office blood pressure measurement according to the International Protocol.

Objective: Assessment of the accuracy of the A&D UM-101 mercury-free professional device for auscultatory blood pressure (BP) measurement according to the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol. Further to auscultation, the device has a button to mark readings during deflation.

Methods: Fifteen adults were included in phase 1 and another 18 in phase 2.

Masked hypertension assessed by ambulatory blood pressure versus home blood pressure monitoring: is it the same phenomenon?

Background: Masked hypertension is defined as normal clinic blood pressure (CBP) and elevated out-of-clinic blood pressure assessed using either self-monitoring of blood pressure (BP) by the patients at home (HBP) or ambulatory BP (ABP) monitoring. This study investigated the level of agreement between ABP and HBP in the diagnosis of masked hypertension.

Methods: Participants referred to an outpatient hypertension clinic had measurements of CBP (two visits), HBP (4 days), and ABP (24 h).