Hypertensive encephalopathy and the neurologic manifestations of malignant hypertension.

In a prospective study, 34 patients with 41 admissions for malignant hypertension were examined by a neurologist before and after antihypertensive treatment. Neurologic examination was normal in 17 cases, and neurologic diagnoses in 19 others included acute cerebral infarction (10), uremic encephalopathy (4), dementia of uncertain etiology (3), multiple infarct dementia (1), and chronic paranoid schizophrenia (1). Five patients had a generalized neurologic syndrome consistent with hypertensive encephalopathy, characterized by altered mental function with or without generalized convulsions. In these patients, neurologic examination was normal 1 to 7 days after lowering of blood pressure, while renal function remained unchanged. Neurologic disease is therefore common in malignant hypertension, and hypertensive encephalopathy may be more frequent than previously described.