KEY MESSAGES

• Office BP measurement is regarded as the cornerstone for diagnosis, but it is not error-free because not reflecting what happens in daily life and for the overestimation caused by the “white coat” reaction.
• There are some factors that cannot be measured at office, like masked hypertension, so that (home and ambulatory) out-of-office BP measurements should be added for a better diagnosis and management.
• Home BP monitoring should be performed by all treated hypertensive patients.
• Ambulatory BP measurement is recommended at diagnosis in most hypertensive patients and during follow-up (with frequency depending on individual cardiovascular risk level).
• If inside and out-of-office BP measurements are combined, four phenotypes with different cardiovascular disease (CVD) can be detected: hypertensive (highest risk), masked, white-coat, and normotensive (lowest risk).