RANGE OF BLOOD PRESSURE IN HYPERTENSION

Abstract

The variability of the blood pressure poses numerous problems in the evaluation of subjects with hypertension. Thus, in estimating prognosis and the response to treatment, and in examining candidates for military service or insurance, it is well recognized that casual readings of the blood pressure may be misleading. Numerous reports have called attention to the lability of the blood pressure in hypertensive subjects.¹It is our purpose in this report to emphasize the desirability of recording the blood pressure, particularly in hypertensive subjects, in terms of maximum and minimum range rather than as an individual reading, and to suggest a simple procedure whereby this may be accomplished. As mentioned in a previous report inThe Journal,²various pressor and depressor agents have been employed to study blood pressure responses in normal persons and in hypertension. The rise in blood pressure has been investigated following tyramine, epinephrine, pitressin, tobacco