Medical Problems: Hypertension

OVERIVEW
[glossary_exclude]Hypertension[/glossary_exclude] is QUITE the topic! It may seem to be innocuous at first, however there are so many considerations to keep in mind with regards to this seemingly simple phrase, that we need a whole page dedicated to organizing it all! After a certain point in your medical training you may find that studying hypertension actually raises your blood pressure!
Elevated blood pressure can be a very common finding clinically. It is for this reason that one must be skilled in the art of rapidly working it up! (source)
Hypertension can seem to be an overwhelming topic, however the goal here is to make it manageable for trainees and students (source)
WHAT EXACTLY IS IT?

Before going any farther, let us make sure we clearly define the “medical problem”. Hypertension refers to an elevated blood pressure (often a pressure above 140/90 mm Hg) in a patient. This is a broad topic and can be further subdivided into the following categories.

ORGANIZING THE DIFFERENTIAL

Hypertension can have many different causes: we need to have a means of organizing the scope of what could cause this condition, and the differential diagnosis for hypertension can be organized in a few different ways:

  • Can’t miss diagnosis
  • Organ systen
  • Disease category
  • Diagnostic modality
  • Most common diagnosis
WORKING UP A PATIENT WITH HYPERTENSION

After we understand the scope of what can cause hypertension, we can being to “work it up”. There is more then one way to workup a patient with hypertension:

TREATING A PATIENT WITH HYPERTENSION

Once we have worked up the issue we can being treating patients with hypertension.