ABSTRACT
In this review we present analysis the European recommendations on hypertension - what's new and what has changed in the tactics of managing patients with arterial hypertension (AH). We compared recommendations on hypertension of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Society of hypertension (ESH) 2018 with European recommendations of previous years. In the updated version of guidelines, it is still recommended to determine AH as blood pressure (BP) ≥140 and / or ≥90 mm Hg; to subdivide BP levels into optimal, normal, and high normal, to classify severity of AH as 3 degrees, and to distinguish separately its isolated systolic form. Values for out-of-office BP remained unchanged, but recommendations emerged concerning wider use of ambulatory BP monitoring and self-measurement of BP. For initial therapy, it was recommended to use two drugs combinations preferably as single pill combinations. An increase of the role of nurses and pharmacists in teaching, supporting patients and controlling hypertension has been noted. This can improve the achievement of target BP and, as a result, reduce the cardiovascular risk. New European recommendations highlight the modern aspects of classification and diagnosis of AH, main stages of screening, and algorithm of drug treatment of AH.
