Home blood pressure monitoring in modern clinical practice

The paper presents a critical analysis of the guidelines on home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) by the European Society of Hypertension (2008). Theoretical aspects, related to the clinical implementation of the method, are discussed in detail, including general HBPM description, prognostic value of its results, normal range of HBPM parameters, and indications for HBPM. In addition, problematic issues, not covered in the guidelines, are discussed, such as the "first measurement effect" and long-term H M PM informative value. Two major modern methods for blood pressure measurement are compared - HBPM and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). HBPM is essential for routine assessment of long-term antihypertensive therapy effectiveness, while the focus of 24-hour ABPM is the baseline BP evaluation in hypertensive patients, including masked hypertension diagnostics, and additional BP assessment in the case of low response to antihypertensive therapy. Therefore, these two methods are complementary. Publication of the Russian translation of the guidelines will increase clinicians' interest in HBPM, overcoming the current skeptical attitude towards this method, and, as a result, will help to improve the quality of arterial hypertension diagnostics and treatment in Russia.