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Sympathetic neural activity presumably mediates white-coat hypertension. Researchers examined this relation in a study of 18 otherwise healthy patients with untreated hypertension, documented at several recent physician visits (average blood pressure [BP], 153/101 mm Hg).
In this experimental protocol, a device that records continuous beat-to-beat BP and heart rate was applied to the patient's finger. Additionally, a microelectrode recorded skin sympathetic nerve activity from the peroneal nerve. After a 10-minute baseline period of beat-to-beat recording, an automated Omron arm BP device — programmed to inflate and measure BP at specified intervals — collected several BP readings during the next 10 minutes. For each patient, this sequence w…