[Diagnostic significance of absent nocturnal blood pressure decrease in 24-hour long-term blood pressure measurement].

Patients (pts) with essential hypertension normally exhibit a typical diurnal variation with a nocturnal blood-pressure (BP) decreased. A lack of this periodicity is often reported in pts with secondary hypertension. 24-h BP measurement was therefore performed in 308 pts with essential hypertension, and in 172 pts with secondary hypertension, in order to evaluate the diagnostic value of nocturnal BP decrease.

[Comparison of 24-hour blood pressure measurement with ergometry in patients with hypertension].

24-h-Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and bicycle ergometry were compared in 112 patients with untreated mild to moderate essential hypertension. Patients with high blood-pressure values above 220 mmHg during ergometry showed a significantly higher number of blood-pressure peaks above 180 mmHg. There was no significant correlation between the level of the blood-pressure rise during ergometry and the mean values of blood pressure during the 24-h period neither in the night- or the daytime period, nor of the peak values of the 24-h profile.

[Long-term blood pressure measurement for evaluating the first dose response of captopril and ramipril in patients with a stimulated renin system].

First-dose-response of captopril 1 x 25 mg (no prodrug) and ramipril 1 x 2.5 mg (prodrug) were compared in two groups of 17 patients with moderate or severe hypertension and stimulated renin-angiotensin system (because of continuous diuretic therapy) by means of 24-h blood-pressure measurement at the 1st and 7th day of therapy. In the ramipril-group the antihypertensive effect started after 2 h, had its maximum (mean: -13/-8 mmHg) after 4 h and remained unchanged for 8 h.

[Importance of 24-hour blood pressure monitoring in secondary hypertension].

A typical diurnal variation in blood pressure is observed in patients with essential hypertension. Attenuation or lack of circadian periodicity might be expected in patients with secondary hypertension. Therefore, non invasive ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring was performed in 172 patients with secondary hypertension and in 201 patients with essential hypertension.