PA Medical News about Blood Pressure Sphygmomanometry

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Beyond office sphygmomanometry: Ways to better assess blood pressure
Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, 11/03/09

Rafey M – To diagnose and manage hypertension optimally, we may need to do more than measure the patient’s blood pressure in the office using traditional sphygmomanometry. A variety of devices—some already available, validated, and reimbursable, some still in development – provide more information and give us a better picture of the patient’s true hypertensive status, degree of blood pressure control, and risk of end–organ damage.

Traditional office blood pressure measurements have diagnostic limitations, since they are only snapshots of a very dynamic variable.
Ambulatory 24–hour blood pressure monitoring is a useful and proven tool and can reveal nocturnal hypertension, a possible new marker of risk.
Automatic devices can be used in the clinician’s office to minimize the “white coat effect” and measure blood pressure accurately.
Pulse–wave analysis provides physiologic data on central blood pressure and arterial stiffness. This information may help in the early identification and management of patients at risk for end–organ damage.