Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: basis for improving detection, evaluation, treatment, and prevention of target organ damage of arterial hypertension

This is a special issue of Chronobiology International dedicated to the clinical implications of a "time-aware" approach to the diagnosis, treatment, and target-organ-damage prevention of arterial hypertension based on ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring. After the introductory editorial call for a routine use of all the precious information provided by the technique --not just part of it and only in special situations like most current guidelines still recommend-- the circadian epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases is presented, and the circadian patterns of BP are analyzed in relation to their underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Then, the best methodology of ambulatory BP monitoring, possibly combined with actigraphy, is discussed in relation to its clinical application in hypertensive patients. The prognostic value of ambulatory BP monitoring and its use as an essential tool for the diagnosis of hypertension and the evaluation of treatment efficacy are analyzed in detail. Specific articles are dedicated to the diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic issues of ambulatory BP monitoring in different types of both pseudo and true hypertension (sustained, nocturnal, masked, and so on), in relation to aging, gender differences, pregnancy, and in subgroups of patients affected by diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and resistant hypertension.