Resistant Hypertension Workup and Approach to Treatment

Resistant hypertension is defined as blood pressure above the patient's goal despite the use of 3 or more antihypertensive agents from different classes at optimal doses, one of which should ideally be a diuretic. Evaluation of patients with resistive hypertension should first confirm that they have true resistant hypertension by ruling out or correcting factors associated with pseudoresistance such as white coat hypertension, suboptimal blood pressure measurement technique, poor adherence to prescribed medication, suboptimal dosing of antihypertensive agents or inappropriate combinations, the white coat effect, and clinical inertia. Management includes lifestyle and dietary modification, elimination of medications contributing to resistance, and evaluation of potential secondary causes of hypertension. Pharmacological treatment should be tailored to the patient's profile and focus on the causative pathway of resistance. Patients with uncontrolled hypertension despite receiving an optimal therapy are candidates for newer interventional therapies such as carotid baroreceptor stimulation and renal denervation.