Paroxysmal hypertension
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Paroxysmal hypertension is episodic high blood pressure, which may be due to stress of any sort or from phaeochromocytoma, a type of tumor involving the adrenal medulla. Patients with paroxysmal hypertension who test negative for phaeochromocytoma are said to be suffering from pseudophaechromocytoma,[1] a disorder with no known cause.
Causes
Anxiety
• (See "Overview of the clinical manifestations of hyperthyroidism") • Cluster or migraine headaches (See "Approach to the patient with headache syndromes other than migraine" and see "Approach to the patient with migraine headache") • Hypertensive encephalopathy (See "Hypertensive emergencies: Malignant hypertension and hypertensive encephalopathy"). • Coronary insufficiency • Renovascular hypertension (See "Who should be screened for renovascular or secondary hypertension?"). • Central nervous system lesions, such as stroke, tumor, hemorrhage, compression of lateral medulla, and trauma (See "Clinical diagnosis of stroke subtypes"). • Seizure disorder • Carcinoid (See "The carcinoid syndrome"). • Drugs (cocaine, lysergic acid diethylamide, amphetamine) • Tyrosine ingestion combined with monoamine oxidase inhibitors • Baroreflex failure • Factitious hypertension.
References
- ↑ Kuchel, O. Pseudopheochromocytoma. Hypertension 1985; 7:151