[The practice guideline 'Hypertension' (third revision) from the Dutch College of General Practitioners; a response from the perspective of internal medicine].
The revised practice guideline on hypertension from the Dutch College of General Practitioners is a useful document for the management of hypertension. The decision to limit antihypertensive treatment to patients with at least a 20% risk of developing cardiovascular disease within 10 years may, however, be criticised. Prolonged untreated mild hypertension may lead to macro- and microvascular myocardial sclerosis and disturbed systolic and diastolic function of the left ventricle. A 10% risk is preferred. On the other hand, case-finding and treatment of patients with hypertension will increasingly be a major time-consuming activity in general practice. This calls for a change in organisation: well-trained vascular assistants should be employed to fulfill most of this task.
van Montfrans
G A
GA
Academisch Medisch Centrum/Universiteit van Amsterdam, afd. Interne Geneeskunde, F4-111, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam. g.vanmontfrans@amc.uva.nl
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007388:Internal Medicine; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013997:Time Factors
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents