ABSTRACT
Although the blood pressure typically falls over the first few weeks of repeated measurements taken either in the office or at home, in about 20-30% of patients the office readings remain elevated but those taken out of the office are normal. This condition is referred to as ‘white-coat hypertension’ or ‘isolated office hypertension’. The condition was clearly identified by Pickering and coworkers among 292 untreated patients with office readings that were persistently elevated above 140/90 mmHg over an average of 6 years (Pickering, 1988).
