[Clinical aspects and treatment of the hypertensive emergency (author's transl)].

The term "hypertensive emergency" includes all clinical syndromes which are triggered by a rapid rise in the arterial blood pressure and are improved by medicinal lowering of the blood pressure. Among them are hypertensive encephalopathy, acute rise in blood pressure with left heart failure and acute rise in blood pressure complicated by intracerebral hemorrhage or a dissecting aortic aneurysm. Parenteral application of dihydralazine, diazoxide and clonidine are suitable for immediate lowering of blood pressure medicinally and sodium nitroprusside under clinical supervision. In phaeochromocytoma Regitin is the drug of choice.