Management of hypertension in the very elderly patient

Abstract

This Hypertension Grand Rounds discusses pharmacological treatment of hypertension in individuals who have survived 9 decades on earth. This rapidly growing group of relatively active and healthy elderly people is at high risk for hypertension, its treatment, and its adverse consequences, including stroke and heart failure. In this age group, the most common abnormality is elevated systolic blood pressure, which is much more predictive of stroke and heart disease death after 53 years of age. With the possible exception of the Antihypertensive and Lipid Lowering to prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), recent clinical trials have emphasized the overriding importance of lowering blood pressure rather than the specific agent chosen to begin therapy. In 1999, a metaanalysis of 7 clinical trials that enrolled 1670 subjects >80 years of age indicated that active antihypertensive drug therapy significantly reduced stroke by 34% and heart failure by 39% but was associated with a nonsignificant 6% increase in mortality. The HYpertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET) will enroll 2100 patients >80 years of age and will compare 2 groups randomized to indapamide±perindopril versus placebo±placebo for incident stroke during 5 years of follow-up. This study should answer lingering questions about whether active antihypertensive therapy is associated with a major and significant reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in this age group as it clearly does in younger hypertensives. Its choice of a diuretic as initial therapy is consistent with other trials, but chlorthalidone is the drug with the most compelling evidence in large US trials that included very elderly patients.