Which is worse hypertensive urgency or emergency?

Which is worse hypertensive urgency or emergency?

Which is worse hypertensive urgency or emergency?

Hypertensive urgency must be distinguished from hypertensive emergency. Urgency is defined as severely elevated BP (ie, systolic BP >220 mm Hg or diastolic BP >120 mm Hg) with no evidence of target organ damage. In order to diagnose malignant hypertension, papilledema (see the image below) must be present.

What defines a hypertensive emergency?

A hypertensive emergency is an acute, marked elevation in blood pressure that is associated with signs of target-organ damage. These can include pulmonary edema, cardiac ischemia, neurologic deficits, acute renal failure, aortic dissection, and eclampsia.[1][2][3]

What conditions may trigger a hypertensive emergency or urgency?

Causes of a hypertensive emergency include:

  • Forgetting to take your blood pressure medication.
  • Stroke.
  • Heart attack.
  • Heart failure.
  • Kidney failure.
  • Rupture of your body’s main artery (aorta)
  • Interaction between medications.
  • Convulsions during pregnancy (eclampsia)

How do you fix hypertensive emergency?

Hypertensive emergency is best managed with continuous infusion of a short-acting, titratable antihypertensive agent. The patient should be managed in an ICU with close monitoring, and consideration should be given to using an arterial line to obtain accurate BP readings.

What is the emergency treatment for hypertension?

If the blood pressure remains elevated after beta blockade, a vasodilator such as intravenous nitroglycerin or nitroprusside may be administered. The drugs of choice in treating a hypertensive emergency with acute pulmonary edema are intravenous nitroglycerin, clevidipine, or nitroprusside (1,2,5).

How do you test for hypertensive emergency?

Diagnosis of Hypertensive Emergencies Testing typically includes ECG, urinalysis, and serum BUN and creatinine. Patients with neurologic findings require head CT to diagnose intracranial bleeding, edema, or infarction. Patients with chest pain or dyspnea require chest x-ray.

How do you treat hypertensive emergency?

Vasodilators such as nitroprusside and nitroglycerin are also used to treat a hypertensive emergency. The goal of therapy for a hypertensive emergency is to lower the mean arterial pressure by no more than 25% within minutes to 1 hour and then stabilize BP at 160/100-110 mm Hg within the next 2 to 6 hours.