First look at new 2018 joint ESH/ESC Guidelines on diagnosis and management of hypertension

Systemic hypertension (HTN) is the most prevalent non-communicable disease and the leading cause for major cardiovascular events, renal failure and cognitive decline. The World Health Organization showed that HTN is a key area of concern for healthcare and identified this condition as one of the primary targets for intervention to reduce global morbidity and mortality. The hard-hitting AHA/ACC Guidelines on management of High blood pressure in adults published in 2017 shocked medical community and enforced reconsidering overall significance HTN once again due to the large pool of newly diagnosed individuals and higher healthcare costs. Ensuing debates around Task Force committee opinions were fomenting at every scientific session related to cardiac diseases throughout first half-year 2018 and beyond the lecture halls as well. Thus all attendees at the 28th European Congress on Hypertension and Cardiovascular Protection held in Barcelona, Spain in June were captivated with the European expert’s presented preview of the new 2018 ESH/ESC joint clinical Guidelines on diagnosis and management of HTN. This short review highlights the bullet points presented before fulltext publication. The chapters on diagnosis, risk stratification, blood pressure treatment target ranges had undergone minor but crucial corrections. Key changes include medical treatment of uncomplicated HTN and drug therapy in special groups with major comorbidities, management of resistant HTN, device-based HTN therapy and adherence interventions.