Hypertension

The new guidelines on hypertension of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2018 have refined the treatment cut-offs and therapy decisions in adults. This review highlights important recommendations of the guidelines and also on the situation of hypertension in Austria. The general treatment targets of blood pressure have been lowered to at least 130/80 mmHg for most patients. The definition of hypertension is specified as a repeated systolic blood pressure in the office of ≥140 and or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg...

Treatment-resistant hypertension (TRH) is defined as the failure to achieve an office BP target of <140/90 mmHg (<130/80 mmHg in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or diabetes) in patients with hypertension (HT), despite adherence to at least 3 antihypertensive medications at optimal tolerated doses, ideally including a diuretic (Calhoun et al., Circulation 2008). TRH identifies patients with hard-to-treat HT, who might benefit from specialist investigation and treatment. Although some studies put the prevalence of TRH as >10%, these levels may be inflated by white-coat hypertension and poor adherence...

Preeclampsia is a potentially serious complication of pregnancy with increasing significance worldwide. Preeclampsia is the cause of 9%-26% of global maternal mortality and a significant proportion of preterm delivery, and maternal and neonatal morbidity. Incidence is increasing in keeping with the increase in obesity, maternal age, and women with medical comorbidities entering pregnancy. Recent developments in the understanding of the pathophysiology of preeclampsia have opened new avenues for prevention, screening, and management of this condition...