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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. For many years, it was believed that CVD was much more prevalent in men, probably due to the lack of studies that addressed this issue in women and their risk factors, according to their biological particularities. 1 Cardiovascular risk factors common to both genders have been identified. However, some studies have shown that these factors are associated with worse outcomes in women in comparison to men. [2][3][4] In general, women usually develop CVD 10 years later than men, so that the prevalence of CVD increases in the postmenopausal period, probably due to the decline in estrogen hormone levels. 5

Systemic hypertension (SH) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular events, especially stroke, which justifies the relevance of its proper management. In a meta-analysis conducted by Sarki et al., 1 the results showed a prevalence of 32.3% of SH, and Latin America was as one of the regions with the highest estimates (39.1%). 1 According to data from the American Heart Association, specifically in the African-American population, the prevalence of SH reaches 44.9% for black men, and 46.1% for black women. 2 A higher prevalence of SH in blacks was also identified in Brazilian studies. 3-5 Despite this high prevalence, pressure control is achieved in most cases with the appropriate choice of antihypertensive drugs. 6 However, still 9-18% of individuals with SH have blood pressure levels resistant to pharmacological treatment, which characterizes resistant hypertension (RH). 6-8

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