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Case 1: Management of Hypertensive Encephalopathy
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A 45-year-old man with a 2-month history of progressive headache presented to the emergency department with nausea, vomiting, visual disturbance, and confusion for 1 day. He denied fever, weakness, numbness, shortness of breath, and flulike symptoms. He had significant medical history of hypertension and was on a β-blocker in the past, but a year ago, he stopped taking medication due to an unspecified reason. The patient denied any history of tobacco smoking, alcoholism, and recreational drug use. The patient had a significant family history of hypertension in both his father and mother. Physical examination was unremarkable, and at the time of triage, his blood pressure (BP) was noted as 195/123 mm Hg, equal in both arms. The patient was promptly started on intravenous labetalol with the goal to reduce BP by 15% to 20% in the first hour. The BP was rechecked after an hour of starting labetalol and was 165/100 mm Hg. MRI of the brain was performed in the emergency department and demonstrated multiple scattered areas of increased signal intensity on T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images in both the occipital and posterior parietal lobes. There were also similar lesions in both hemispheres of the cerebellum (especially the cerebellar white matter on the left) as well as in the medulla oblongata. The lesions were not associated with mass effect, and after contrast administration, there was no evidence of abnormal enhancement. In the emergency department, his BP decreased to 160/95 mm Hg, and he was transitioned from drip to oral medications and transferred to the telemetry floor. How would you manage this case?
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The patient initially presented with headache, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, and confusion. The patient’s BP was found to be 195/123 mm Hg, and MRI of the brain demonstrated scattered lesions with increased intensity in the occipital and posterior parietal lobes, as well as in cerebellum and medulla oblongata. The clinical presentation, elevated BP, and brain MRI findings were suggestive of hypertensive emergency, more specifically hypertensive encephalopathy. These MRI changes can be seen particularly in posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), a sequela of hypertensive encephalopathy. BP was initially controlled by labetalol, and after satisfactory control of BP, the patient was switched to oral antihypertensive medications.
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Hypertensive emergency refers to the elevation of systolic BP >180 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP >120 mm Hg that is associated with end-organ damage; however, in some conditions such as pregnancy, more modest BP elevation can constitute an emergency. An equal degree of hypertension but without end-organ damage constitutes a hypertensive urgency, the treatment of which requires gradual BP reduction over several hours. Patients with hypertensive emergency require rapid, tightly controlled reductions in BP that avoid overcorrection. Management typically occurs in an intensive care setting with continuous arterial BP monitoring and continuous infusion of antihypertensive agents.