Systolic and Diastolic Blood-Pressure Values Indicating Equivalent Risk

To the Editor: In the case of patients with hypertension, treatment decisions are often based on the diastolic pressure alone. 1 Since there is increasing evidence that the systolic pressure has greater predictive power, clinicians might find it useful to transform a diastolic measure to the systolic pressure indicating equivalent risk. In many treatment programs, blood-pressure values are given in systolic-diastolic pairs. For example, the treatment threshold recommended by the World Health Organization is 160/95 mm Hg. 1 However, the rationale behind the combination of a systolic pressure of 160 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure of 95 mm Hg is unclear. . . .