Background: The introduction of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring into clinical practice has defined a clinical condition called 'isolated office hypertension'.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term systolic and diastolic blood pressure changes in patients with isolated office hypertension and to identify the presence of markers capable of identifying which patients will develop sustained hypertension.
Methods: All the 407 patients enrolled had a random office systolic or/and diastolic blood pressure of over 140/90mmHg and a mean daytime ambulatory blood pressure of 130/84mmHg or less. At enrollment, each patient underwent a 'baseline examination' made up of a physical evaluation, a 24h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and a mental arithmetic test performed at the end of the 24h ambulatory monitoring.
Results: Of the 173 patients finally studied, 102 (58.9%) developed sustained hypertension with an increase in both ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure. At the time of the baseline examination, the patients were divided into two groups. Group A included patients with mean ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the first hour of 130/84mmHg or less; group B included patients with mean ambulatory systolic and diastolic pressures in the first hour of greater than 130/84mmHg. During the mental arithmetic test, the systolic and heart rate values increased significantly only in group B patients. Of the 102 patients who had become hypertensive by the time of the follow-up examination, 84 (82%) belonged to group B.
Conclusion: These data suggest that isolated office hypertension may indeed be a transitional state towards the development of sustained hypertension. Moreover, the mean ambulatory blood pressure value during the first hour can be considered to be a marker of a higher risk of developing sustained hypertension.