Essential hypertension
ICD-10 I10 · ICD-11 BA00

When Prior Add-On Antihypertensives Have Not Controlled Resistant Hypertension

Clinical Scenario

Resistant hypertension is defined as blood pressure above goal despite treatment with three antihypertensive medications — with complementary mechanisms of action, including a diuretic at maximally tolerated doses — or blood pressure at goal but requiring four or more medications.

Previous Treatment Line — Goal Not Reached

When a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist is not tolerated or contraindicated, add-on agents may be tried: amiloride, a beta-blocker, an alpha-blocker, a central sympatholytic drug, a dual endothelin receptor antagonist, or a direct vasodilator. If blood pressure does not reach the goal of <130/80 mmHg on this regimen, the following next step is considered.

Next-Line Approach

Renal denervation (RDN) may be considered as an adjunct to ongoing antihypertensive medications and lifestyle modification in carefully selected patients who remain above target despite optimal therapy.

The complete selection criteria and clinical decision pathway are available in the full protocol.

Target: BP <130/80 mmHg
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References

DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001356

Resistant hypertension is defined as BP above goal despite treatment with 3 antihypertensive medications with complementary mechanisms of action, including a diuretic at maximally tolerated doses or BP at goal but requiring ≥4 medications (Figure 8).

In carefully selected patients with systolic and diastolic hypertension (office SBP 140-180 mm Hg and DBP ≥90 mm Hg) and eGFR ≥40 mL/min/1.73 m² who have resistant hypertension despite optimal treatment, or intolerable side effects to additional antihypertensive drug therapy, renal denervation (RDN) may be reasonable as an adjunct treatment to BP medications and lifestyle modification to reduce BP.

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