New Statement By American Heart Association Sets Lower BP Targets For High-Risk And Established Cad Patients
The new statement deals both with primary prevention patients, divided into
- general prevention or
- high CAD risk / patients with pre-existing CAD in any of various forms (stable angina; unstable angina/non-ST elevation MI; ST-elevation MI; heart failure secondary to CAD).
Patients in the high-risk category are defined as patients who also have
- diabetes,
- CKD,
- known CAD,
- a CAD-risk equivalent (carotid disease, peripheral artery disease, or abdominal aortic aneurysm)
These patients should all have their BP lowered to < 130/80 mm Hg, as would patients with pre-existing CAD. In patients with heart failure, physicians should consider a target even lower, the authors suggest, < 120/80 mm Hg, although blood pressure lowering should be slow, they caution.