Hypertensive emergency - Hypertensive encephalopathy

This is a life-threatening situation secondary to high blood pressure which affects the functioning of different organs. The precipitating causes could be a cerebrovascular accident, heart failure, coronary disease, aortic aneurysm, kidney disease, traumatic brain injury, intracranial hemorrhage, etc. The most common symptoms are chest pain, shortness of breath, impaired consciousness, dizziness, headache, nosebleed, vertigo, nausea and vomiting, etc. It is diagnosed by taking the medical history, performing a full physical examination (including the fundus of the eye), laboratory tests, electrocardiogram, chest X-ray and computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. It must be monitored and treated in an intensive care unit and intravenous drugs are used in the early stages.