Via practica 6/2014

Hypertensive crises. Basic therapeutic procedures in routine clinical practice and intensive care

Hypertensive crises are potential life endangering situations, which require immediate medical intervention to prevent or limit target organ damage. Organs in risk from the point of view of damage are: brain (including changes on eye background), heart, big vessels and kidneys. These states differ according to degree of blood pressure correction necessity. As for approach to clinical situations mentioned above there are practical differences made between emmergent and urgent hypertension situations. Treatment is individual following evaluation of age, form, overall state of patient, in correlation with clinical and laboratory monitoring. Period between regression of hypertension crises symptoms and status balancing is particularly fragile. Setting patient to long-term chronical antihypertension treatment remains target after patient´s acute state management.

Keywords: arterial hypertension, hypertension crises, therapeutic procedures.