Clinical profile of patients with hypertensive crisis in a tertiary care hospital in Haryana, India – A retrospective cross-sectional study

Background: A hypertensive crisis may manifest as hypertensive emergency or urgency. Hypertensive emergency is characterized by target organ damage and poses immediate threat to life, a situation not seen in urgency. Aims and Objectives: The aims of the study were as follows: (1) To determine the prevalence of hypertensive crisis classified as emergency, urgency, and pseudocrisis. (2) To assess the various systems (neurological, cardiovascular, and renal) affected in relation to a particular type of hypertensive crisis. Materials and Methods: The retrospective study comprised analysis of medical records of 100 patients of hypertensive crisis admitted to emergency unit of BPS Government Medical College and Hospital for Women, Sonepat, Haryana, India, in the 2 years period from January 2018 to December 2019 and study their prevalence among hospital emergencies and clinical presentation. Results: Total number of clinical emergencies analyzed during this time interval was 6666. The prevalence of hypertensive crisis accounted to 1.5% of all the clinical emergencies received. About 66% presented as hypertensive emergencies, 32% as hypertensive urgency, and 2% presented as hypertensive pseudocrisis. Males of the fifth decade of life while females of the sixth decade of life were most affected by hypertensive crisis. Headache (58%) followed by giddiness (44%) was the most common clinical presentation in the emergency. About 34% of patients had associated neurological deficit. Only 16% of patients had cardiovascular system involvement. Conclusion: Symptoms provided by patients in the emergency department are of paramount importance for the outcome of hypertensive crisis. Severe complication of hypertensive crisis can be prevented if hypertension is timely diagnosed and appropriately managed.

The Effectiveness of a Nurse-led Team-Based Hypertension Management among People with Uncontrolled Hypertension in a Community Hospital, Thailand

Introduction: Uncontrolled blood pressure of people with hypertension remains a major public health issue. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Nurse-led Team-based Hypertension Management Program (NTHMP) among people with uncontrolled hypertension.Methods: This quasi-experimental one-group pre-posttest design research was done to evaluate the effectiveness of a NTHMP in a community hospital in Thailand. The sample was thirty people with uncontrolled hypertension who received outpatient care in a community hospital in Thailand. They participated in three months NTHMP which included 1) team-approached health education, 2) medication administration support, 3) motivation interviewing on behavioral adjustment and 4) home blood pressure monitoring for three months. Outcomes of the program; systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, hospital admissions with signs of hypertensive urgency were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and repeated measured ANOVA.Results: The results indicated that people with uncontrolled HT had lower systolic blood pressures and diastolic blood pressure compared with baseline levels (p<0.001), and no hospital admissions.Conclusion: This program provided evidence for nurses to manage blood pressure control in people with hypertension within a collaboration with multidisciplinary team members in the community hospital.

POSACONAZOLE INDUCED PSEUDOHYPERALDOSTERONISM WITH CONCURRENT ACUTE PRIMARY ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY-A CASE REPORT

In this covid 19 pandemic,there were increased incidence of Mucormycosis and thereby increase in usage of antifungals especially oral posaconazole which is more recently available in tablet form.There are already enough case reports of the incidence of new onset hypertension and hypokalemia with supressed renin and aldosterone which is termed as “Posaconazole induced pseudohyperaldosteronism”.We describe here about a similar case that presented with hypertensive urgency as Acute pulmonary edema with an associated primary adrenal insufciency.The potential mechanism include inhibition of 11 β HSD which degrades cortisol to cortisone,thereby increasing the levels of cortisol that stimulates Mineralocorticoid receptor.Also there is inhibition of steroidogenesis at the level of adrenal which in our patient presented with features of Acute adrenal insufciency.

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Case Report

We reported a case report of a 50-year-old woman with stroke hemorrhage due to subarachnoid hemorrhage with hypertensive urgency, left ventricular hypertrophy, and dyslipidemia. Subarachnoid hemorrhage indicates the presence of blood in the subarachnoid space between the pia mater and arachnoid mater which usually results from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation. The patient presents with decreased consciousness preceded by severe headache and projectile vomiting. In physical examination, we found hypertensive emergencies and positive meningeal signs, neck stiffness, and positive Brudzinski. CT scan shows bleeding in the pontocerebellar cistern and ventricular system. The patient was diagnosed with subarachnoid hemorrhage, intraventricular hemorrhage, and emergency hypertensive. The patient was hospitalized in the neurology ward of Ulin Hospital for 20 days with the management of antihypertensive, neuroprotectant, other symptomatic medications, and ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery. The patient was then discharged home in a stable condition.

Hypertensive urgencies during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital setting: A “U” shaped alarming curve.

IntroductionCorona virus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic provoked unprecedented disturbance in hypertension care, while alarming concerns arose about its long-term consequences. We assessed the impact of COVID-19 spread on population behavior regarding hypertension urgencies during its first wave.Material and methodsData from daily unscheduled visits and admission counts in the Cardiology sector were collected from the Emergency Department database of a tertiary General Hospital in Athens, Greece from January 15th-July 15th 2020. This data was compared with the ones from the previous year. Cases presented with hypertensive urgency or admitted due to uncontrolled hypertension were separately analyzed.ResultsA total of 7,373 patients records were analyzed. Hypertension urgency cases demonstrated a “U” shaped distribution in 2020, showing declining trend during the rapid virus spread, an image that was reversed after the transmission rate’s fade. COVID-19 incidence in Greece was inversely associated with uncontrolled hypertension admissions during its declining phase (r=-0.64 p=0.009), whereas total attendance exhibited a similar correlation during the first and the following months of the pandemic (r=0.677, p=0.031, r=-0.789, p=0.001). Uncontrolled hypertension rate on admission was positively related to the national incidence of COVID-19 cases during the first months of 2020 (r= 0.82, p=0.045).ConclusionsHypertensive urgency-related visits followed a “U” shape distribution during the pandemic’s first wave with attendance nadir coincidence to the virus spread peak. The initial relative increase in uncontrolled hypertension-related admissions rate, combined with the later increment of hypertensive urgencies may indicate blood pressure deregulation among the studied population which is multifactorial and potentially detrimental.

Clinical Characteristics and Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Hypertensive Urgency at an Emergency Department

Hypertensive urgency is characterized by an acute increase in blood pressure without acute target organ damage, which is considered to be managed with close outpatient follow-up. However, limited data are available on the prognosis of these cases in emergency departments. We investigated the characteristics and predictors of all-cause mortality in Korean emergency patients with hypertensive urgency. This cross-sectional study included patients aged ≥ 18 years who visited an emergency tertiary referral center between January 2016 and December 2019 for hypertensive urgency, which was defined as a systolic blood pressure of ≥ 180 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure of ≥ 110 mmHg, or both, without acute target organ damage. The 1 and 3 year all-cause mortality rates were 6.8% and 12.1%, respectively. The incidence of emergency department revisits and readmission after 3 months and 1 year was significantly higher in non-survivors than in survivors. In a multivariate analysis, age ≥ 60 years (hazard ratio (HR), 16.66; 95% CI, 6.20–44.80; p < 0.001), male sex (HR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.22–1.94; p < 0.001), history of chronic kidney disease (HR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.53–3.09; p < 0.001), and proteinuria (HR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.53–2.48; p < 0.001) were independent predictors of 3 year all-cause mortality. The all-cause mortality rate of hypertensive urgency remains high despite the increased utilization of antihypertensive medications. Old age, male sex, history of chronic kidney disease, and proteinuria were poor prognostic factors for all-cause mortality in patients with hypertensive urgency.

Abstract T3: Type 2 Myocardial Infarction Predicts Outcome In Hypertensive Crisis Patients: Nationwide Analysis

Background: Type 2 Myocardial infarction (T2MI) can occur in hypertensive crisis patients. The impact of T2MI in this population is poorly understood due to limited available data. Objective: To assess the impact of T2MI on patients admitted to the hospital with hypertensive crisis. Methods: We queried National Readmission Database (NRD) of year 2018 for adult patients admitted with a primary diagnosis of hypertensive crisis. Patients were excluded if they had type 1 myocardial infarction (T1MI), septic shock, or bleeding in the index admission. Primary outcome was 90-day readmission due to T1MI. Secondary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Subgroup analysis was done according to urgency and emergency presentation. Multivariate regression was done to account for confounders. Results: A total of 101211 patients were included in our cohort of whom 3644 (3.6%) were diagnosed with T2MI and 24471 (24.2%) were readmitted within 90 days of discharge. Of those, 912 (3.7%) were diagnosed with T1MI on readmission. T2MI was independently associated with increased odds of 90-day readmission with T1MI (Adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.67, 95% CI [1.91-3.75], P=0.000). T2MI effect was observed in hypertensive urgency, and in hypertensive emergency. T2MI was associated with increased in-hospital mortality in hypertensive urgency population (aOR: 4.21, 95% [1.58-11.25], P=0.004) but not in hypertensive emergency (table 1). Conclusion: In hypertensive crisis patients, T2MI was associated with increased 90-day readmission with T1MI. Aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors and risk stratification should be considered at the time of diagnosis.

Pheochromocytoma Leading to Multiorgan Failure in a Pregnant Patient: A Case Report

Introduction: Pheochromocytoma, a neuroendocrine tumor that secretes catecholamines, can present with episodic sweating, diaphoresis, headaches, and hypertension, as well as cardiac and pulmonary involvement. In a pregnant patient, it must be differentiated from preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal mortality in the developed world, which can similarly present with hypertension and multiorgan involvement. Both conditions require early diagnosis and treatment to reduce maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Case Report: We discuss the case of a pregnant patient at approximately 24 weeks’ gestation presenting with chest pain and shortness of breath who was found to have a left adrenal mass and hypertensive urgency. The patient acutely decompensated during the course of evaluation. She ultimately suffered pregnancy loss and multiorgan failure requiring percutaneous heart pump placement and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy for support before fully recovering. The adrenal mass was confirmed to be a pheochromocytoma after excision and contributed to the development of hypertensive emergency with multiorgan failure. Conclusion: Pheochromocytoma during pregnancy is a rare condition but must remain on the differential until ruled out to improve patient outcomes as much as possible. Obtaining blood pressure control is imperative to reducing maternal and fetal mortality. Preeclampsia is similarly serious, and early diagnosis is essential for adequate management of the condition until delivery can occur.