Podcast 701: Elevated Blood Pressure Readings

Emergency Medical Minute

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD

Educational Pearls:

• Recent retrospective cohort study looked at elevated BP readings in the ED and correlation to underlying hypertension
• Large cohort of over 30,000 patients found that nearly 50% had an elevated blood pressure reading in the ED
• Less than 15% of patients with elevated BP readings in the ED were diagnosed with hypertension within 2 years
• Only 25% of patients with BP readings >160/100 were diagnosed with hypertension within 2 years
• Patients with an elevated blood pressure reading of >160/100 had only a slightly increased risk of stroke, transient ischemic attack, acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, or death in the next 2 years

References

McAlister FA, Youngson E, Rowe BH. Elevated Blood Pressures Are Common in the Emergency Department but Are They Important? A Retrospective Cohort Study of 30,278 Adults. Ann Emerg Med. 2021;77(4):425-432. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2020.11.005

Summarized by John Spartz, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD

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