The Measurement of Blood Pressure During Sleep

The measurement of blood pressure (BP) variations during sleep can provide very useful information for diagnosing and managing hypertension, and for assessing cardiovascular function in general. This paper gives an overview of the clinical significance of nocturnal BP and of the technical challenges involved in measuring it, and compares technologies that perform intermittent measurements with technologies that measure the continuous BP waveform. It also identifies likely future developments in this field, including the convergence of ambulatory monitoring and the measurement of the continuous waveform, and the wider use of polysomnography (in which other cardio-respiratory signals are also recorded) as a screening tool for detecting sleep apnea in the management of hypertension.