What is more surprising is the recent recognition of the importance of pulse pressure. Thus Verdecchia and colleagues have studied office pulse pressure and that measured by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in over 2,000 subjects in a study in Italy, and have demonstrated an extremely strong gradient of risk according to deciles of pulse pressure, particularly that measured by ambulatory monitoring. Indeed, in statistical models, pulse pressure may be more important than systolic and diastolic blood pressure, replacing these in mathematical models.