Lane DA, Lip GY, Beevers DG.
City Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
Am J Hypertens 2009;22:1199–204.
Editor’s note: The present authors reviewed data from the malignant phase hypertension (MHT) registry of the City Hospital, Birmingham, UK, collected over 42 years (1964–2006). In that period, a total of 446 patients with MHT (severe hypertension associated with bilateral hemorrhages and exudates, with or without papilledema) presented to the hospital; from 1977, patients were treated in a specialist MHT clinic. The prognosis of MHT used to be somewhat dire, with up to eight out of 10 patients dying within 2 years of diagnosis (
Br Med J 1959;1:1361–3); however, modern antihypertensive treatment has improved outcomes significantly, with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 70% established more than a decade ago (
J Hypertens 1995;13:915–24).