New guidelines for management of arterial hypertension

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) have released new Guidelines on the management of Arterial Hypertension, which can be found in the European Heart Journal, the official journal of the ESC and Europe's leading cardiology journal.

Arterial hypertension is a causal and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular and renal diseases and an important and frequently encountered condition in Europe. The peer-reviewed Guidelines offer up to date information on best practices and provide practical recommendations on the diagnosis, assessment and treatment of arterial hypertension.

"This update is timely given the advances made in our scientific knowledge and the unacceptable gap that still exist between what is recommended and what is achieved in daily practice regarding detection and control of arterial hypertension," said Prof. Guy De Backer, who co-chaired with Prof. Giuseppe Mancia the Task force that produced these guidelines

The update of the 2003 guidelines is based on an extensive and critical review of data from large randomized clinical trials but also on observational studies and other sources of information provided they were obtained in studies meeting a high scientific standard. The full text is accompanied by a series of boxes, figures and tables where specific recommendations are given. A more concise set of practice recommendations on the subject will become available as pocket guidelines

The updated guidelines are also meant to compliment information provided by the Fourth Joint Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and other Societies on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Clinical Practice in the European Guidelines on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Clinical Practice that will be released at the annual ESC Congress in Vienna 2007.

"Guidelines are primarily educational and not prescriptive or coercive," said Prof. De Backer. "The guidelines provide a framework that can be adapted and/or adopted by national Joint Task Forces taking into account national socioeconomic and cultural factors."