Cardiology Letters 2023, 32(1):49-53

Masked hypertension - diagnosis, treatment and prognosis

Gašpar Ľ^{1, 2}, Filipová S³

¹ I. interná klinika, Lekárska fakulta Univerzita Komenského, Univerzitná nemocnica, Bratislava

² Katedra fyzioterapie, Fakulta zdravotníckych vied Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Trnava

³ Kardiologická klinika, Oddelenie neinvazívnej kardiológie, Národný ústav srdcových a cievnych chorôb, a. s., Bratislava, Slovenská republika

The diagnosis of masked hypertension has been made easier with the widespread availability of home blood pressure monitoring devices, as well as the routine use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. The negative impact of masked hypertension on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is evidenced by numerous well-designed clinic-based and population-based studies. The relationship of masked hypertension and target organ damage is also well documented. These two factors, combined with the robust evidence of reduced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality achieved with blood pressure treatment, makes the argument for actively identifying patients with masked hypertension and prescribing treatment similar to that for patients with sustained hypertension.

Keywords: masked hypertension; masked uncontrolled hypertension; prevalence; clinical significance; treatment

Published: January 1, 2023  Show citation