Vascular health assessment of the hypertensive patients(VASOTENS) Registry: rationale, design and methods ofan international registry for ambulatory blood pressure andarterial stiffness telemonitoring

Ambulatory (A) blood pressure (BP), central BP andpulse wave velocity (PWV) are parameters recommendedby hypertension guidelines for estimatingBP control and vascular impairment. Recent advances in technologymade available devices allowing combined non-invasiveestimation of these parameters over the 24-h during ABPmonitoring (ABPM). However, at present, there is limited evidenceon the usefulness of such an approach for routine hypertensionmanagementWe recently launched an investigator-initiated, international,multicenter, observational, prospective study with the followingobjectives:• The evaluation of non-invasive ambulatory blood pressure and arterial stiffnessestimates (through PWA) in hypertensive subjects undergoing an ABPMfor clinical reasons in the selected centers;• The evaluation of the changes in blood pressure and arterial stiffnessestimates following treatment initiation according to current guidelines;• The assessment of the impact of non-invasive arterial stiffness estimation ontarget organ damage and patient’s cardiovascular prognosis;• The definition of the normalcy thresholds for PWV, AI and other current andfuture indices derived from PWA according to outcome data;• The definition of the relationship between arterial stiffness, blood pressureabsolute level and blood pressure variability, and outcomes;• The setup of a worldwide network of centers performing ambulatory PWA,and the validation and promotion of the use of such technique for hypertensionscreening and follow-up;• The provision of evidence on the clinical relevance of non-invasive arterialstiffness assessment, in order to favor the inclusion of such evaluation inrecommendations on hypertension management.