Evolution of the definition of refractory hypertension
LIU Guo-shu
Abstract：Half a century, refractory hypertension and resistant hypertension are considered to be the type of difficult-to-treat hypertension in clinical treatment, and the concept of both is often used interchangeably to clinical practice. Refractory hypertension and resistant hypertension were named as antihypertensive treatment resistance. In 2008, AHA deifnition of resistant hypertension was the blood pressure that remained above goal in spite of the concurrent use of 3 antihypertensive agents of different classes. Ideally, one of the 3 agents should be a diuretic. Blood pressure controlled by more than 4 kinds of antihypertensive drugs was deifned as controlled resistant hypertension. Over the past 10 years, the clinical study found that approximately 10% of the patients with resistant hypertension using more than 5 antihypertensive drugs couldn't meet the target blood pressure level, which was separated from the resistant hypertension and named as refractory hypertension or antihypertensive treatment failure. Refractory hypertension was considered as a subgroup of resistant hypertension. The pathogenesis of refractory hypertension may be related to the enhancement of sympathetic nerve activity. It may be a special type of hypertension with a potential cause.
Keywords：Refractory hypertensionResistant hypertensionDrug therapy
Publication Date：2016-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 329-332 )