Getting to goal in complex patients

Traditionally, the term complex hypertension has been applied to patients who have clinical evidence of target organ damage. However, this definition can be expanded to include many hypertensive patients who either present without manifest disease but harbor silent concomitant organ damage, or belong to a high‐risk group and are likely to develop such damage. Thus, the number of patients who deserve special consideration as complex patients is considerable. Various factors may contribute toward classifying a patient as having complex hypertension. These include severe hypertension; concomitant conditions such as diabetes, chronic renal insufficiency, coronary artery disease, or congestive heart failure; and high‐risk populations such as the elderly and African Americans. Recent evidence demonstrates that aggressive goal blood pressure (BP)‐lowering therapy is the key toward halting the progression of vascular disease. Although the choice of initial therapy seems less important than achieving goal B P, the drug selected must impart efficacy, organ protection, and tolerability. Combination therapy consisting of calcium‐channel blockers and angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors seems to achieve these desirable effects. Several clinical trials have demonstrated these agents to have favorable effects on BP and organ protection even in complex hypertension, particularly when used in combination.