Affiliations 

  • 1 Thai Hypertension Society, Bangkok, Thailand
  • 2 Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Pathology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
  • 3 CUHK Medical Centre, Hong Kong
  • 4 St. Luke's Medical Center, Manila, Philippines
  • 5 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 6 Menarini Asia-Pacific, Singapore, Singapore
  • 7 Vietnam National Heart Institute, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 8 Mount Elizabeth Hospital Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  • 9 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Faculty of Medicine and Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 10 Institut Jantung Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 11 Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, West Java, Indonesia
  • 12 Cardiology Department, Metropolitan Hospital, Piraeus, Greece. Electronic address: ajmanol@otenet.gr
Eur J Intern Med, 2024 Sep;127:25-30.
PMID: 38960822 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejim.2024.06.026

Abstract

Hypertension remains a major problem worldwide, especially across the Asia-Pacific region, which reports high prevalence rates and slow improvements in treatment rate and blood pressure (BP) control rate. Asian patients with hypertension may also vary with regard to phenotype and the epidemiology of the complications of hypertension, especially when compared with Western patients. Given these differences, Western guidelines may not necessarily be applicable to countries in the Asia Pacific. This narrative review aims to provide a critical comparison between the recently published European Society of Hypertension (ESH) 2023 guidelines and existing local guidelines in select Asian countries, offer expert opinion on how to fill gaps in the ESH 2023 guidelines for hypertension in the Asian context, and examine the need for harmonisation of hypertension guidelines worldwide. This review focuses on the definition and diagnosis of hypertension, the treatment thresholds and targets, and recommendations on the use of pharmacotherapy.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.