[24-hour blood pressure monitoring in diagnosis and therapy of arterial hypertension].

In a prospective open multicentric study two groups (A and B) of patients with essential hypertension used different methods for blood pressure measurements under treatment with the calcium channel blocker nifidipine GITS 30 and 60 mg. Fifty-one patients were followed for 6 weeks. Results of 24 hour blood pressure monitoring at visits after 2, 4 and 6 weeks were only known to physicians of group A. In this group the patients took their blood pressure twice per day.Both methods for measurement showed an overall decrease of blood pressure in the course of therapy. The mean values at the medical visits were always higher than the average measurements by 24 hour monitoring or the self assessment of blood pressure. The latter two blood pressure values tended to agree favorably. The differences between measurements during medical visits and measurements taken at home or during normal activity show that measurements in the doctor's office may lead to overestimation of hypertension. Without the results from blood pressure monitoring 4 (22%) of the patients in group B were treated without reason. Nifedipine GITS was well tolerated. Nine patients (16%) had undesired drug effects leading to a premature halt of treatment in 3 of them.