Optimal Systolic Blood Pressure Goal in Persons Aged 60 Years and Older - Abstract
The American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association 2011 expert consensus document on hypertension in the elderly developed in collaboration with the American Academy of Neurology, the American Geriatrics Society, the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, the American Society of Hypertension, the American Society of Nephrology, the Association of Black Cardiologists, and the European Society of Hypertension recommended that the systolic blood pressure be lowered to less than 140 mm Hg in persons aged 60-79 years and to 140 to 145 mm Hg if tolerated in adults aged 80 years and older [1]. I strongly support these guidelines based on clinical trial data, especially from the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly trial [2-4] and from the Hypertension in the Very Elderly trial [5].