A paradigm shift from office to home-based blood pressure measurement approaches in kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

Purpose of review: The unattended blood pressure (BP) readings from home blood pressure (HBP) monitoring should provide more accurate BP readings than attended BP obtained from office blood pressure (OBP). Here, we review evidence supporting the clinical utility of HBP and automatic remote monitoring of blood pressure (ARM-BP) in kidney transplant recipients (KTR).

Recent findings: BP from 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24-h ABPM) is higher than but better associated with kidney and cardiovascular outcomes compared to OBP and HBP. While there is discordance of BP readings across different BP measurement methods causing BP misclassification, HBP provides BP readings closer to the readings from the 24-h ABPM than those from OBP. Systolic and diastolic BP is better controlled within 30 days after utilizing ARM-BP.

Summary: Compared to OBP, HBP minimizes the attended effect of OBP, and its readings are closer to the gold standard 24-h ABPM. ARM-BP improves BP control in the short term and trials of longer follow-up duration are required to evaluate sustained clinical benefits in KTR. The paradigm of BP monitoring may shift toward HBP, while OBP may be utilized primarily for KTR who cannot perform HBP for hypertension diagnosis and management.