Treatments for secondary high blood pressure

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Treatments for secondary high blood pressure

Some forms of secondary high blood pressure need to be treated with surgery. For example, if your condition is due to narrowing of the largest blood vessel in your body (coarctation of the aorta ), surgical repair or stents placed in your aorta can cure your secondary high blood pressure and may be the most suitable treatment choice.

To treat other forms of secondary hypertension, you may need to take medicines. For example, your doctor may prescribe a drug known as spironolactone to treat hyperaldosteronism, a hormone disorder where your body produces too much of the hormone aldosterone, which controls how your kidneys maintain a salt and water balance.

Some people may need a combination of surgical treatment and medicines. For example, people who have renal artery stenosis and high blood pressure can be treated initially with medicines. But they may also need surgery, or angioplasty with or without a stent, to treat stenosis if medicines alone do not succeed in controlling the effects of the condition. In this case, a doctor may suggest a surgical procedure that would remove obstructions in the renal arteries, which carry blood to your kidneys.

**Treatments for secondary high blood pressure**
Cause of secondary hypertension	What it means	Treatment
Renal artery stenosis	Narrowing of the artery that carries blood to your kidneys, which restricts blood flow to the kidney	Renal artery bypass Angioplasty with or without stenting High blood pressure medicines
Pheochromocytoma	A tumor on your adrenal gland that causes the release of hormones	Beta-blockers and/or alpha-blockers Surgical removal of the tumor
Coarctation of the aorta	Narrowing of the largest artery in your body (the aorta that carries blood from your heart to the rest of your body)	Surgical correction of the aortic structure Angioplasty with stent placement
Pituitary adenoma secreting growth hormone	A tumor on your pituitary gland that produces excess growth hormone	Surgical removal of the tumor
Cushing's disease	A tumor on your pituitary gland secretes too much of the hormone that stimulates cortisol production, a hormone that helps regulate your metabolism.	Surgical removal of the tumor
High cardiac output states	Your body demands too much blood, causing your heart to overexert itself.	Beta-blockers Treatment of the condition that is the cause (such as hyperthyroidism)
Prescribed medicines and other drugs	Some prescribed medicines and illicit drugs, such as cocaine, can cause high blood pressure.	Stop taking the drug in question. Substitute with an agent that does not cause hypertension.
Hyperaldosteronism	Excess production of the hormone aldosterone, which controls salt and water balance in your kidneys	Spironolactone Removal of tumor on adrenal glands that can cause this condition

Your doctor may treat not only your high blood pressure but also the condition that is causing high blood pressure if it will take a long time to cure that condition or if your blood pressure is dangerously high. If it takes too long to cure the condition causing high blood pressure, this potentially allows more time for high blood pressure to damage your system.

Your doctor may choose to treat your high blood pressure directly instead of treating your condition causing high blood pressure if treatment for that condition is too complex or high-risk for you. For example, you may have renal artery stenosis, which typically requires surgery. But if your overall health is too delicate to withstand such surgery, it may make more sense to treat just your high blood pressure instead.

Treating the condition that is the cause of secondary high blood pressure will not always lower your blood pressure back to a normal level. In this case, you may need to treat the high blood pressure itself.

Credits

Author	Robin Parks, MS
Editor	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS
Associate Editor	Pat Truman
Primary Medical Reviewer	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer	Robert A. Kloner, MD, PhD - Cardiology
Specialist Medical Reviewer	Ruth Schneider, MPH, RD - Diet and Nutrition
Last Updated	April 24, 2007

Last updated:	April 24, 2007
Author:	Robin Parks, MS
Reviewed By:	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine, Ruth Schneider, MPH, RD - Diet and Nutrition
Editors:	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman

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