Medicine Grand Rounds Point-Counterpoint, Raven Voora and Alan Hinderliter “Hypertension Guidelines: Are They Realistic?”

The 2017 ACC-AHA Hypertension Guideline proposes a new definition of hypertension, and advocates lower blood pressure treatment thresholds and goals for many individuals with high blood pressure. As a result, more elderly patients are diagnosed with hypertension and are treated more aggressively with medications. Drs. Voora and Hinderliter will discuss the pros and cons of this strategy for the management of high blood pressure in the elderly in a point-counterpoint format.

Alan Hinderliter’s principal clinical interests are hypertension and echocardiography. He is a hypertension specialist and sees patients with high blood pressure that is difficult to control in the multidisciplinary UNC Hypertension Clinic. Dr. Hinderliter serves as the director of the UNC Hospitals echocardiography laboratory and provides imaging support to the structural heart disease program. His research interests include lifestyle interventions for the treatment of hypertension, novel therapies for resistant hypertension, out-of-office blood pressure measurement, and the cardiovascular effects of air pollution.

Raven Voora directs the UNC Hypertension Clinic. She is involved in the management of acute and chronic kidney disease at UNC and at the Burlington (NC) Kidney Center. Dr. Voora is a hypertension specialist and sees patients with hypertension at Chapel Hill.