In a recent study we found that patients with isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) had two patterns of systolic blood pressure (SBP) elevations by ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), sustained (S) and intermittent (I), the prognostic significance of which seems to be different. In the present study we tried to determine whether such patterns of SBP elevations may be detected among other hypertensives as well. Twenty-eight elderly patients (mean age 65.5+/-5.1 years), nine with ISH, 10 with systolodiastolic hypertension (SDH), and nine with white coat hypertension (WCH), underwent ABPM. Average clinic BP in the ISH group was 184/83 mm Hg, in the SDH group 172/101 mm Hg, and in the WCH group 166/91 mm Hg, where as the ABPM averages were 169/80, 167/95 and 132/73 mm Hg, respectively, and differences held true for both daytime and night-time. Five ISH and four SDH patients had S patterns on ABPM, while the other four ISH and six SDH patients exhibited I patterns; none of the nine WCH subjects had either S or I patterns. ECG revealed left ventricular hypertropy (LVH) and/or ischaemic changes in eight patients with S patterns (ISH and SDH groups combined), as opposed to two patients with I patterns and only one patient of the WCH group. This seems to further suggest that an S pattern of SBP elevation on ABPM may have worse prognostic implications than either an I pattern or no SBP elevation.