Chronobiology approach to human hypertension.

The present article is aimed to make the status of the art on the diagnosis of hypertension using the non-invasive automated devices for measuring blood pressure (BP) over the 24 h span. The diagnostic procedure is based on specific criteria eminently devoted to the temporal evaluation of the BP 24 h pattern in its variability, either discrete or periodic. The procedure, called "chronodiagnosis of hypertension", is articulated in three procedural levels, each corresponding to a particular chronobiometry of the BP 24 h pattern. The chronodiagnostic procedure is detailed step by step.