How to deal with hypertensive emergencies

Written by Wei Shi Liang
Intensive Care Unit
Updated on September 29, 2024
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Hypertensive emergency is characterized by a significant increase in blood pressure, often with diastolic pressure greater than 130 mmHg. Target organs including the brain, eyes, heart, and kidneys are severely compromised or fail. Hypertensive emergencies require admission to the CCU for cardiac monitoring and the use of intravenous antihypertensives. In the initial one to two hours, the reduction in blood pressure should not exceed 25% of the peak value. Control blood pressure within two to six hours and stabilize it at 160/100 mmHg. Commonly used antihypertensive drugs include sodium nitroprusside and nitroglycerin, while avoiding the use of nifedipine-like drugs for blood pressure reduction.

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Written by Zhang Yue Mei
Cardiology
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How should one take medicine for high blood pressure?

Patients with hypertension must use effective medications to keep their blood pressure within the normal range to prevent damage to the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems. During medication use, patients should not arbitrarily stop taking their medication or switch to different types. It is necessary to regularly monitor blood pressure and adjust the medication dosage or switch types under the guidance of a doctor as blood pressure fluctuates. Randomly stopping medication and discontinuing antihypertensive drugs can cause blood pressure fluctuations and pose greater risks to the body, especially causing ischemia in the heart and brain.

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Written by Wang Ji Zhong
Internal Medicine
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The difference between hypertensive crisis and hypertensive encephalopathy

Both hypertensive encephalopathy and hypertensive crisis involve a rapid increase in blood pressure, symptoms of headache, restlessness, nausea and vomiting, palpitations, shortness of breath, and blurred vision, with systolic pressure increasing to 200 mmHg and diastolic pressure to 120 mmHg, typically presenting similar clinical blood pressure readings. The main difference between the two is that hypertensive encephalopathy is based on excessively high blood pressure in patients with severe hypertension. Furthermore, hypertensive encephalopathy can lead to clinical signs of cerebral edema and increased intracranial pressure, whereas hypertensive crisis occurs when blood pressure suddenly rises over a short period, causing symptoms due to excessive secretion of catecholamines driven by increased sympathetic nervous excitement.

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Written by Tang Li
Cardiology
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What is hypertension?

Hypertension is characterized by elevated arterial blood pressure in the systemic circulation, and may be accompanied by functional or organic damage to organs such as the heart, brain, and kidneys. Hypertension can be divided into primary hypertension and secondary hypertension. Secondary hypertension is due to certain identified causes or etiologies, leading to increased blood pressure, accounting for about 5% of all hypertension cases. Conditions like primary aldosteronism, pheochromocytoma, renovascular hypertension, and renin-secreting tumors are examples, and cases where the cause of increased blood pressure cannot be found are also referred to as primary hypertension and hypertensive disease. Currently, the classification and standard for blood pressure in China mostly use a systolic pressure of greater than or equal to 140 mmHg and/or a diastolic pressure of greater than or equal to 90 mmHg.

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Written by Wei Shi Liang
Intensive Care Unit
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How to deal with hypertensive emergencies

Hypertensive emergency is characterized by a significant increase in blood pressure, often with diastolic pressure greater than 130 mmHg. Target organs including the brain, eyes, heart, and kidneys are severely compromised or fail. Hypertensive emergencies require admission to the CCU for cardiac monitoring and the use of intravenous antihypertensives. In the initial one to two hours, the reduction in blood pressure should not exceed 25% of the peak value. Control blood pressure within two to six hours and stabilize it at 160/100 mmHg. Commonly used antihypertensive drugs include sodium nitroprusside and nitroglycerin, while avoiding the use of nifedipine-like drugs for blood pressure reduction.

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home-news-image
Written by Zhang Yue Mei
Cardiology
44sec home-news-image

Emergency treatment for high blood pressure

Hypertension is currently a common and frequent disease, especially among middle-aged and elderly people. It requires the use of proper antihypertensive drugs to lower blood pressure back to a normal range to ensure the blood supply to the heart and brain. If medication is not taken on time, or due to emotional excitement or excessive fatigue, there can be a sudden increase in blood pressure. Immediate use of effective antihypertensive drugs is necessary to lower the blood pressure to a safe range to prevent accidents. In case of a hypertensive emergency, one should go to the hospital for active treatment to avoid life-threatening risks.