[Nyctohemeral blood pressure profiling by automatic measurement in ambulatory hypertensive patients. Treatment with acebutolol].

Variations in night and day blood pressure were evaluated in 11 patients with essential hypertension. The instrument used (Pressurometer II) automatically records blood pressure every 15 minutes for a mean period of 22 hours and ECG tracings continuously. The mean values of arterial pressure and heart rate were significantly higher during day time than at night, revealing a relative "hypotension" and "bradycardia" during sleep. The cardioselective beta-blocker acebutolol induced a significant fall in diurnal and nocturnal blood pressure, thus uniformly lowering the 24-hour profile.