Published online Nov 23, 2013. doi: 10.5494/wjh.v3.i4.27
Revised: September 27, 2013
Accepted: October 17, 2013
Published online: November 23, 2013
Variability is an aspect of blood pressure (BP) relatively unknown and poorly evaluated systematically in clinical practice. Although the introduction of intensive BP measurement methods, such as ambulatory blood pressure monitoring provided evidence of the importance of BP variability in the short-term, more recently, however, emphasis has been placed on the relevance of variability of BP in the medium- and long-term. The adverse cardiovascular consequences of high BP not only depend on absolute BP values, but also on BP variability. Independently of mean BP levels, BP variations in the short- and long-term are associated an increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. Also, it has been suggested that modulation of such variability may explain the different level protection exerted by different antihypertensive-drug classes.
Core tip: A recent focus of interest has been the relationship between variability of blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular events. It has been documented that the impact of hypertension on the risk of cardiovascular diseases including cardiovascular-related death not only depends on absolute BP values, but also on BP variations in the short- and long-term. For this reason, besides to reducing absolute BP levels, control of BP variability is highly desirable and an important target of antihypertensive treatment.