title: Blood pressure level and incidence of myocardial infarction among patients treated for hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the relationship between achieved blood pressure and risk of myocardial infarction among patients treated for hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors were assessed among 718 myocardial infarction case patients and 2136 matched controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Blood pressure level was directly related to risk of myocardial infarction. Patients with treated hypertension who had mild elevations in blood pressure accounted for a larger share of the excess myocardial infarction incidence than those who had higher blood pressure readings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Achieving normotensive levels in treated hypertensive patients with uncontrolled blood pressure might prevent more than 15% of myocardial infarctions in the treated hypertensive population.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. rkaplan@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Psaty
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Heckbert
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Lemaitre
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018672:Community Health Planning; D003971:Diastole; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013599:Systole