Effects of Antihypertensive Therapy on Blood Pressure Variability

Purpose of Review The study aims to summarize the effect of antihypertensive therapy on various types of BP variability in hypertensives. Recent Findings Visit-to-visit, day-by-day, and ambulatory BPV are markers of target organ damage and cardiovascular prognosis, as was shown in the LIFE study, which showed that visit-to-visit variability in BP predicted cardiovascular events in treated hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy. Long-acting calcium channel blockers (CCBs) may be a preferable treatment in reducing BPV measures. Nonadherence to antihypertensive medication is also a very important component of increased BPV, and improving the adherence is also a key for the favorable prognosis. Summary BPV cannot be a target of antihypertensive treatments because of the lack of definitive evidence. However, in high-risk patients, those with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases, the clinical significance should be considered in individual basis. Especially, reduction of BPV would be an important strategy for these patients.