Open AccessBlood Pressure Control 1 Year After Referral to a Hypertension Specialist
Author(s) -
Denker Matthew G.,
Haddad Danny B.,
Townsend Raymond R.,
Cohen Debbie L.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/jch.12146
Subject(s) - medicine , blood pressure , referral , pediatrics , cardiology , family medicine
Hypertension is highly prevalent and remains poorly controlled. The purpose of this study was to evaluate blood pressure ( BP ) control in patients with uncontrolled hypertension 1 year after referral to a hypertension specialist. A retrospective chart review was performed on 158 patients evaluated by a single hypertension specialist between 2005 and 2010 at the P enn H ypertension P rogram. Patients were included if they had at least 1 year of follow‐up and had baseline plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone concentration measured. Drug regimens were adjusted with particular attention to results of renin‐aldosterone profiling. Mean BP of the entire cohort decreased from 149/87 mm Hg to 129/78 mm Hg at 1 year ( P <.0001), without a significant change in the number of antihypertensive medications. The authors observed that referral to a hypertension specialist was worthwhile and associated with a significant reduction in BP without an increase in the number of BP medications used at 1 year.