Jozef Bulas
European guidelines (ESH/ESC 2003) classify arterial blood pressure as Optimal (<120/<80mmHg), Normal (120–129/ 80–84 mmHg), High normal (130–139/85–89 mmHg), Grade 1 hypertension (140–159/90–99mmHg) Grade 2 hypertension (160–179/100–109 mmHg), Grade 3 hypertension (>180/>110 mmHg) and isolated systolic hypertension (>140 / < 90 mmHg). The need to search for all other risk factors, target organ damage and associated clinical conditions is emphasized. There is necessary to estimate the global cardiovascular risk for decision –making concerning the drug therapy. The main difference of American guidelines (JNC 7) from European one is in more simple classification: normal (< 120/ < 80mmHg), prehypertension (120–139/ 80–89 mmHg) and hypertension stage 1 (140–159/90–99 mmHg) and stage 2 (>160/ >100 mmHg).