Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Children and Adolescents: a Review of Recent Literature and New Guidelines.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This is a review of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) use in pediatrics, focusing on research published in the last 3 to 4 years.

RECENT FINDINGS: Recent data has shown that ABPM is more strongly associated with end-organ damage than casual BP, and that obesity and secondary causes of hypertension are strongly associated with nocturnal hypertension. There is evidence that ABPM is useful in management of a larger variety of diagnoses than previously thought. New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recognize the importance of ABPM in the management of pediatric hypertension. ABPM has an important and growing role in the diagnosis and management of hypertension in children and adolescents. Future efforts should include developing more generalizable normative data and investigating associations between pediatric ABPM results and adult outcomes.