Effect of long-term antihypertensive treatment on white-coat hypertension

Limited evidence is available on the extent and frequency by which antihypertensive treatment lowers office blood pressure (BP) in white-coat hypertension (WCH). Data are even more scanty and discrepant on the corresponding effect on ambulatory BP (ABP). In the hypertensive patients of the European Lacidipine Study on Atherosclerosis (ELSA), office and ABP were measured before treatment and at 6-month (office BP) or 12-month (ABP) intervals during the 4-year administration of calcium channel blocker-based or β-blocker-based treatment. The two groups were pooled and data were analyzed separately in patients with both office and ABP elevation (n=1670; sustained hypertension) or WCH (n=251; office BP elevation only). In sustained hypertension, office and 24-hour mean systolic BP were both markedly reduced through the treatment period, the mean change being -20.0±12.5 and -10.1±11.0 mm Hg, respectively (P