[Continuous ambulatory blood pressure measurement--a new method for the detection of arterial hypertension in children].

Blood pressure measurements obtained in a physicians office may not reflect the patients blood pressure during the whole day. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring provides information about blood pressure during normal daily activities and night sleep. Further, the results of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring are in excellent correlation with end-organ damages. The paper discusses the chronobiology of blood pressure, the clinical use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, including the identified patterns of blood pressure, the correlation with end-organ damage and its use in clinical trials of antihypertensive medications.