Malignant hypertension and asymmetric septal hypertrophy in a 43-year-old black man

Discovering the cause of hypertension in any given patient may be confounding to a clinician. The diagnostic evaluation can be simple and inexpensive, or labor-intensive and costly. The evaluation is sometimes not as rigorous as that used for other illnesses. This shortcoming is related in part to the cause of hypertension being relegated to the categories of either essential or renovascular. The patient discussed here was selected because the results of the history and physical examination show that these elements may provide clues in the workup of these patients. In addition, important clinical deductions can be made from preliminary laboratory data to better characterize the cause of hypertension. Dr John Rutledge is Director of the Hypertension Clinic at the University of California Davis Medical Center and will discuss this case. Dr Eng will present the case.