[On the issue of the diagnosis "boundary arterial hypertension"].

Many-year observation of patients with arterial hypertension revealed that late diagnosis of the initial stage of the disease was typical. Time elapsed from the first medical record of an arterial pressure (AP) of higher than 140/90 mmHg to the moment the diagnosis of arterial hypertension was made was 4.5 +/- 1.6 years in 16 out of the 198 subjects. The authors offer new criteria for the diagnosis of boundary arterial hypertension based on 24-hour AP monitoring (unfavorable type of 24-hour AP profile) and veloergometry (hypertensive response to physical load). Active screening for boundary arterial hypertension based on instrumental examination is recommended, and an algorithm for its search is offered.