Long-term blood pressure measurement

What is a long-term blood pressure measurement?

When measuring blood pressure, practice measurement is differentiated from practice-independent measurement, which is usually carried out as a long-term blood pressure measurement over 24 hours or as a home blood pressure measurement by the patient himself. The advantage of measuring blood pressure outside the doctor's office is the higher number of documented blood pressure values. Measuring blood pressure values in a familiar environment under everyday conditions also enables a more representative determination of the correct blood pressure. This fluctuates over the course of the day and depending on many influencing factors: For example, it is higher during excitement or physical exertion than during sleep.

What is the process of a long-term blood pressure measurement?

During the measurement, the patient wears a portable measurement system, which consists of a small recording device and an associated upper arm blood pressure cuff. Over a period of 24 hours, the cuff automatically inflates itself at specific intervals — every 15 minutes during the day, every 30 minutes at night. When the cuff inflates, the patient should keep one arm as still as possible at heart level. When the air is slowly released, the measuring device records pulse-synchronous amplitude fluctuations and thus determines systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The small recording device stores the measured blood pressure values and heart rate. A blood pressure profile is created from 40 to 60 measurements.

What information does a long-term blood pressure measurement provide?

Long-term blood pressure measurement is a simple and risk-free way to obtain important information about the cardiovascular system. During the examination, two values are measured several times: the upper (systolic) value and the lower (diastolic) value. In addition, the doctor receives information about the mean values during the day and night. In parallel, the patient keeps a log of their activities during a day with a normal daily routine. This makes it easier for the evaluating doctor to attribute changes in blood pressure to specific activities.

The daily blood pressure profile collected is used, on the one hand, to diagnose arterial hypertension, and on the other hand, it is also important for monitoring the progress of drug therapy. During sleep, blood pressure normally drops by 10 to 20 percent. If there is a suspicion of a disturbed day-night rhythm of blood pressure, long-term measurement can also provide important data here.