White Coat Hypertension & Masked Hypertension: A Primary Care Primer

Identification of white coat and masked hypertension among both treated and untreated individuals is strongly recommended by the landmark 2017 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults. The guideline also recommends that treatment decisions (initiation or intensification) should be based on out-of-office blood pressure measures obtained by ambulatory or home blood pressure monitoring.

Summarized in this short slide show are the 7 guideline recommendations on identification and management of the 2 dangerous hypertension phenotypes as well as the evidence in support of each.

Reference: Whelton PK, Carey RM, Aronow WS, et al. 2017 ACC/AHA/AAPA/ABC/ACPM/AGS/ APhA/ASH/ASPC/NMA/PCNA Guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Hypertension. 2018;71:e13-e115.