What do we Mean by “Ideal” Blood Pressure Control?

Abstract

Arterial hypertension (AH) is one of the most important risk factors for development of myocardial infarction, chronic heart failure, stroke, cognitive disorders and dementia, and chronic kidney disease. Currently, special attention is paid to increased blood pressure variability (BPV) as a new risk factor for development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications. The available evidence-based body of clinical studies demonstrates the importance of reducing not only the blood pressure itself but also the increased BPV to provide significant improvement of the prognosis and limits the risk of complications. This notion has been validated in consensus documents on the management of patients with AH. Among antihypertensive drugs, the fixed-dose combination (FC) amlodipine/perindopril has demonstrated a unique capability for reducing all types of BPV (visit-to-visit, day-to-day, during 24 h). According to current clinical guidelines, this combination belongs to first-line FCs indicated for most patients with AH. A distinctive feature of the FC amlodipine/perindopril is numerous data from real-life clinical practice, which support both its high antihypertensive efficacy and the ability to decrease high BPV. Therefore, the FC amlodipine/perindopril can be recommended for a broad range of AH patients to achieve BP control and to improve the prognosis.