Abstract

VALDES GONZALEZ, Yamilé; ALVAREZ BATARD, Germinal; PEREZ CABALLERO, Delfín  and  RUSO QUINTANA, Raúl. Usefulness of the ambulatory monitoring of arterial pressure: Cuban experience of 104 cases. Rev cubana med [online]. 2007, vol.46, n.4, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-302X.

152 patients were studied by Ambulatory Monitoring of Arterial Pressure (AMAP) referred to the Specialized Department of Arterial Hypertension of "Hermanos Ameijeiras" Hospital because of the unsual behavior of their hypertension, previously diagnosed by the aneroid method. Of them, 104 with 90 % or more of effective registries were taken for a prospective, longitudinal and descriptive study with statistical analysis, using independent t tests (p < 0.05). 52.8 % of the patients suspected of mild hypertension were not hypertensive. The appearance of night hypertension was described. It was observed that the initial pressures were higher compared with the rest of the 24-hour study. The normotensive patients differ from the hypertensive. In the latter, there is an important reduction in the appearance of Dipper's phenomenon and there is a predominance of hypertension on awakening, with increased risk for the appearance of vascular complications. This monitoring method proved to be effective for the 24-hour monitoring in the study of those hypertensive patients, who have not had the expected clinical evolution after being diagnosed. It also contributes to know how some novel prognostic variables behave in the management of arterial hypertension.

Keywords : AMAP; white coat syndrome; Dipper phenomenon; hypertension on awakening; prognosis.