Is 24 hour blood pressure monitoring necessary, and what do I do with the information?

Patients with evidence of target organ damage, previous cardiovascular events, high outpatient blood pressure, and older age are at high risk of developing vascular complications of hypertension. They are therefore likely to require antihypertensive treatment, irrespective of the 24 hour blood pressure profile. Ambulatory monitoring is therefore generally reserved for the
assessment of those patients with mild hypertension without evidence of cardiovascular damage (possible “white coat” hypertension), hypertension that appears to be drug-resistant and in the assessment of antihypertensive treatment, particularly with symptoms suggestive of hypotension.