| Abstract: | The reproducibility of a novel ambulatory blood pressure (B.P.) monitoring was tested, for clinical trial in hypertension. The spacelabs apparatus is based on standard auscultatory and oscillometric blood pressure measurements. Ten normotensive patients and 15 hypertensive patients were investigated as follows: their blood pressure was monitored twice over a 24 hr period at an interval of 30 and 15 days respectively. The monitoring data were expressed as the mean of the average blood pressure over day-time (7 hr-22 hr) and 24 hr as well as 24 hr. B.P. profiles (means of 4 measurements per hour). The statistical analysis of the two subpopulations of patients showed a satisfaction reproducibility of both the 24 hr B.P. curves (normotensive patients: PAS: r = 0.94; PAD: r = 0.92; Hypertensive patients PAS: r = 0.82; PAD: r = 0.64 p less than 0.001). and blood pressure levels (normotensive patients: J1: 113 +/- 10/70 +/- 6 mmHg; J30: 110 +/- 10/68 +/- 6 mmHg. Hypertensive patients: J1: 150 +/- 10/98 +/- 9 mmHg; J15: 155 +/- 15/96 +/- 8 mmHg). In contrast, analyzing each patient individually exhibited a correct reproducibility of the B.P. levels but the 24 hr--profiles of either the diastolic or systolic blood pressure could not be correlated with sufficient reliability (normotensive patients: 7 times out of 10 for PAS, and 4 times out of 10 for PAD; hypertensive patients: 5 times out of 15 for PAS, and 3 times out of 15 for PAD). In addition, the patient activity, should be carefully controlled during ambulatory blood pressure measurements.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
