What does daily pressure recording provide?
A device with a cuff measures blood pressure every 15–30 minutes during the day and every 30–60 minutes at night. This allows us to identify “white coat” hypertension, when blood pressure rises only in the doctor’s office, and hidden hypertension, which manifests itself at home or at work. Nocturnal pressure reduction is assessed separately: its absence is an independent cardiovascular risk factor. ABPM is the standard for selecting and monitoring antihypertensive therapy.
What is functional diagnostics
Functional diagnostics evaluates not the structure of an organ, but its work: how the heart contracts, how a nerve impulse is conducted, how pressure changes during the day, how much air passes through the bronchi.
These methods complement ultrasound and tomography: structural studies show how the organ looks, and functional studies show how it copes with its task. Many rhythm disturbances, ischemia and epileptic activity are detected only here.
Basic methods
- ECG - basic recording of the electrical activity of the heart
- Holter monitoring - continuous ECG recording throughout the day
- ABPM - 24-hour blood pressure monitoring
- stress tests (treadmill test) - assessment of the heart during physical activity
- EEG - registration of bioelectrical activity of the brain
- spirometry - study of respiratory function
Why is a one-time entry not enough?
Many disorders are transient: arrhythmia occurs several times a day, ischemia occurs only during exercise, and pressure increases occur at night or at work. A regular ECG lasts tens of seconds and easily misses such episodes, so 24-hour monitoring or exercise tests are prescribed.