Blood pressure is therefore measured during normal daily activities, including sleep.
The monitor is automatic and does require manual activation. It is significantly more sophisticated and accurate than commonly available devices used in clinics or sold in pharmacies.
The portable monitor is worn on a belt connected to a cuff on the upper arm.
Following completion of the 24hr monitoring period, the device is connected to a computer that prepares a report of the blood pressures measured over the course of the 24-hour period. This report is checked for accuracy and interpreted by an experienced clinician before the report is sent to the referring doctor (usually taking no more than 72 hours after the device is returned).
Why use Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring?
Blood pressure normally fluctuates over the course of the day, with higher blood pressures during physical exertion or periods of stress and lower pressures during sleep. Whilst blood pressure monitoring in your doctor’s clinic or at home is useful for screening, 24hr ABPM provides a more reliable measure of blood pressure than measurements conducted in the doctor’s surgery, particularly in patients susceptible to raised blood pressure in the presence of their doctor (the “white coat” effect).
As 24hr ABPM measures “real world” blood pressure up to 40 times over a 24hr period, it is considered the gold standard in the detection and monitoring of hypertension. In addition to excluding white coat hypertension (an elevated blood pressure only in the presence of a doctor or health professional), 24hr ABPM can help to detect large falls in blood pressure following medications or abnormalities in blood pressure fluctuation, including a failure of blood pressure to decrease during sleep.
After the Procedure
Once your monitoring period is over, you'll need to come back to our clinic to return the Blood Pressure Monitor, and one of our staff will remove the monitor.
You are then free to resume your normal everyday activities. Our cardiologists will review the data from the monitor and will report the results back to your treating doctor directly.
Why do your ambulatory blood pressure (24hour blood pressure) monitor at the Cardiologists?
At the Cardiologists the data is checked for accuracy and interpreted only by our Specialist Hypertension Cardiologist who has been the clinical lead in the hypertension clinic at Monash Medical Centre giving you an highly accurate assessment.
The report is sent to your local doctor within 72 hours after the device is returned.