Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring

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Heart & Vascular Centre, Mater Private Network, 72 Eccles Street, Dublin 7, D07 RD8P 1800 20 05 50 Outside ROI +353 (0)51 595 124 heartcentre@materprivate.ie

Please note a referral letter is required before an appointment can be confirmed.

Heart and Vascular Centre, 2nd Floor, Citygate, Mahon, Cork, T12 K199 021 601 3258 corkcardiology@materprivate.ie

Please note a referral letter is required before an appointment can be confirmed.

Mater Private Network, Newenham House, Northern Cross, Malahide Rd., Dublin 17, D17 AY61 1800 12 48 16 Outside ROI +353 (0)51 595 119 dayhospital@materprivate.ie

Please note a referral letter is required before an appointment can be confirmed.

Mater Private Network, Cherrywood Business Park, Building 11, Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin, D18 DH50 1800 12 48 16 Outside ROI +353 (0)51 595 119 dayhospital@materprivate.ie

Please note a referral letter is required before an appointment can be confirmed.

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Further Information

About this service

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) tracks and monitors your blood pressure at regular intervals over 24 hours. 

Blood pressure (BP) is used to measure the amount of work that the heart has to do in order to pump blood around your body. 

High blood pressure (hypertension) increases your chances of developing heart disease. For most people, there are often no particular symptoms and therefore you may be unaware that you have high blood pressure. 

  • Normal blood pressure (middle-aged or older): check your blood pressure every five years. 
  • High blood pressure: check your blood pressure frequently, as advised by your GP. 

If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, it means your blood pressure is consistently higher than it should be. The higher your blood pressure, the greater your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, which is why it is very important you work with your GP or cardiologist to monitor and manage it. 

Why do we use ABPM instead of normal BP measurement? 

There are a number of reasons why your doctor might recommend ABPM: 

  • Suspected masked or hidden hypertension: ABPM provides a more accurate reading of your blood pressure across 24 hours, instead of a single snapshot at a particular point in the day. 
  • Suspected of having night-time hypertension: compared with during the day, a drop in blood pressure at night is common with sleep apnoea. 
  • Blood pressure does not lower despite taking medication prescribed to help lower it. 
  • Suspected low BP: dizziness or weakness can be a symptom of low blood pressure. 

Using a BP monitor 

Setting up a BP monitor will take about 15 minutes. The blood pressure cuff will automatically inflate and deflate, the same as when you get your blood pressure checked at your local GP surgery. 

Attaching the monitor 

A blood pressure cuff is placed on your upper arm. The cuff stays on your upper arm for a full 24 hours. It is linked to a recording monitor, small enough to be worn on a belt on your waist. 

Once the cuff and monitor are comfortably positioned, you will leave the hospital and go about your daily activities as normal. The monitor will measure and record your blood pressure and heart rate at regular intervals. 

You will be asked record your daily activities, symptoms experienced and times you take any medication, in a log book which we will provide for you. 

You will also note any changes to your routine activity when the cuff is inflating and the time it happened, for example maybe you were walking up the stairs or running for a bus while it inflated. Your doctor will use this to link changes in activity and exertion to changes in your blood pressure, if there are any. 

You will return to the hospital 24 hours later to have your monitor removed. 

Your consultant will review the measurements on your monitor and the details entered in your log book. Simple lifestyle or medication changes are often the next steps that are recommended in order to lower your blood pressure.