Lowering the systolic blood pressure target in hypertensive patients: current controversies and future outlook

• Published in: Expert review of cardiovascular therapy Vol. 16; no. 12; p. 889
• Main Authors: Narita, Keisuke, Hoshide, Satoshi, Kario, Kazuomi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 02.12.2018
• Subjects: Antihypertensive Agents - therapeutic use; Blood Pressure - drug effects; Humans; Hypertension - drug therapy; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; international guidelines; adverse effect of intensive blood pressure lowering therapy; optimal evaluation of blood pressure levels; Optimal blood pressure target; future outlook; controversies
• ISSN: 1744-8344
• DOI: 10.1080/14779072.2018.1538784

Randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses have established the benefits of blood pressure (BP) lowering. The 2017 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) guidelines for the management of hypertension established 130/80 mmHg as the threshold for the diagnosis- and treatment-target BP level. Area covered: The global trends are thought to be heading toward intensive BP-lowering management. In this paper, authors summarize the evidence on lowering the BP target in hypertensive patients with a focus on the 2017 AHA/ACC guidelines. Expert commentary: According to the results of clinical research, meta-analyses and the 2017 AHA/ACC guidelines, the target systolic BP may change from less than 140/80 mmHg to 130/80 mmHg in any other international hypertension guidelines. However, this direction of intensive BP control is still controversial.