High blood pressure remains a major health issue worldwide, with profound-and often silent-multisystem effects.
Systemic hypertension (HTN) is a common health problem—affecting more than 800 million people worldwide—that often remains asymptomatic until late in the disease course. It is a major risk factor for both coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular accident.
Although HTN has both genetic and environmental factors, the exact mechanism in the majority of affected individuals is largely unknown. Cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, aortic dissection and renal failure are all systemic sequelae of the disease process. As we know, hypertensive ocular changes can be the initial finding in a patient with undiagnosed HTN and may have sight-threatening consequences.
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