Central BP Measurement Takes Center Stage at ESH 2013

Latest trends in blood pressure measurement technique have shifted to central blood pressure (CBP) and understanding its affect on us. This topic was prevalent at the recent European Society of Hypertension (ESH) meeting in Milan, especially with regards to understanding how CBP can be used in the future to guide clinical cardiovascular treatment. CBP is your aortic blood pressure near the heart and can be obtained both invasively and noninvasively. The invasive process involves inserting a pressure sensor into the aorta, which is not very desirable especially when reliable noninvasive products exist today.

Noninvasive techniques for obtaining CBP include radial tonometry, ultrasound or just using a standard blood pressure cuff. Cuff-based CBP systems have recently been introduced by two of SunTech’s OEM partners, Centron (cBP301) and AtCor (SphygmoCor XCEL). The products were represented in separate session papers at ESH describing their ease-of-use benefits and accuracy. Both products use SunTech OEM technology for reference blood pressure measurements.

So, why should CBP measurements be considered in your clinic/office? Research shows that CBP is better correlated with cardiovascular disease than traditional peripheral BP and is also more predictive of cardiovascular death. Also, CBP is better at showing the effect of anti-hypertensive drugs which sometimes does not show up in peripheral BP. The degree of superiority over traditional methods is still an open topic, thus, research continues. A big barrier for the adoption of CBP in clinical practice is the lack of CBP reference values to guide treatment and is one reason why groups like ESH have not recommended it for clinical practice. This is being worked on and a recent paper¹ in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology recommends 110/80 mmHg for optimal central aortic blood pressure and 130/90 mmHg as its threshold for hypertension. So, someday in the not too distant future, you may be talking with your doctor about your central BP instead of your traditional, upper arm BP measurement!

1 Cheng H-M, Chuang S-Y, Sung S-H, Yu W-C, Pearson A, Lakatta EG, Pan M-H, Chen C-H, Derivation and Validation of Diagnostic Thresholds for Central Blood Pressure Measurements Based on Long-term Cardiovascular Risks, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2013;():. Doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2013.06.029.