• Arterial hypertension (high blood pressure) is a highly prevalent, but frequently unrecognized, condition among the worldwide population^1-3
• Hypertension is widely acknowledged as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease – it plays a causative role in end damage to specific target organs, namely the heart, the main blood vessels, the brain and the kidneys^4-6
• Hypertension imposes a substantial economic burden on health care systems as a result of its high prevalence, inadequate treatment, and association with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality
• Reaching a diagnosis^5-6 of arterial hypertension is generally straightforward because the majority of patients (85–90%) have essential, i.e. primary hypertension
• Blood pressure measurement^5-8, however, remains a challenge as slight changes in blood pressure can have long-term consequences. One type of blood pressure measurement – the 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) – has been shown to provide independent information on a patient’s long-term outcome
• Current treatment strategies^5,6,9 aim to reduce the long-term risk of cardiovascular events by employing a risk-stratification method to identify high-risk hypertensive patients – blood pressure is one of several major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the primary aim of antihypertensive treatment should be to target both the lowering of blood pressure and the prevention of end-organ damage

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