Exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise is not associated with masked hypertension in patients with high normal blood pressure levels.

The association between exaggerated blood pressure (BP) response to exercise (ExBPR) and "masked hypertension" is unclear. Medical records of patients with high-normal BP who were evaluated in the Chaim Sheba Screening Institute Ramat Gan, Israel, during the years 2002-2007 and referred for 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) and exercise test were reviewed. Data on exercise tests performed in the preceding 5 years were retrieved. Reproducible ExBPR was defined when it was recorded at least twice. BP levels on 24-hour ABPM were compared between patients with a normal BP response and those with an ExBPR (systolic BP ≥200 mm Hg). Sixty-nine normotensive patients with high normal BP levels were identified. ExBPR was recorded in 43 patients and was reproducible in 28. BP levels on 24-hour ABPM were similar in patients with and without ExBPR. In patients with high-normal BP levels, ExBPR is not associated with masked hypertension.