Arterial hypertension (AH) is one of the main risk factors of negative cardiovascular (CVR) events and the complex evaluation of CVR is necessary for the successful treatment of patients with AH. To improve the prevention of cardiovascular complications and events in hypertensive patients, it is of major importance to estimate the patient's individual risk for cardiovascular events.

Evaluate cardiovascular (CV) risk stratification in hypertensive patients according to the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) guidelines and the level of target organ damage (TOD) using routine examinations in clinical practice.

This study was done for a period of 1 year in the University hospital IBN ROCHD of Casablanca and was conducted in a group of 132 patients with AH, cardiovascular risk stratification and TOD was defined following the ESH guidelines.The clinical assessment included urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER), electrocardiogram, self-monitored blood pressure (BP) and ambulatory BP.

The mean age of the patients was 56,4 +/– 11,7 years with female predominance. Grade 1 hypertension was found in 31,8%, grade 2 in 42,4% and grade 3 in 25,8%. The prevalence of TOD was: high UAER (8,6%), left ventricular hypertrophy (22,1%), supraventricular arrhythmias (42,3%), ventricular arrhythmias (2,9%), coronary arter disease (19,3%), kidney disease (11,2%), transient ischaemic attack (2,3%), cerebrovascular stroke (8,1%), Peripheral artery disease (18,7%). For the Stratification of total CV risk: (16%) of our patients had a very high risk, (36,5%) high risk, (39,2%) moderate risk and (8,3%) low risk. On the treatment side: (43,6%) were under monotherapy, (37,7%) bitherapy and (18,7%) triple therapy.

Modern strategies of cardiovascular prevention in hypertensive patients should move from a single risk factor based approach toward a more comprehensive risk evaluation in the individual patient.

The author hereby declares no conflict of interest