Hypertensive crises in sub-Saharan Africa: Clinical profile and short-term outcome in the medical emergencies department of a national referral Hospital in Burkina Faso

Background Data on hypertensive crises (HC) are limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We aimed to characterize the pattern and short-term mortality of hypertensive emergencies (HE) and urgencies (HU). Methods This was a prospective cohort study. Consecutive patients with acute and severely elevated blood pressure (systolic > 180 mmHg and/or diastolic > 120 mmHg) with or without acute target-organs damage attending the emergency department (ED) of the Teaching Hospital of Yalgado Ouedraogo, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso were included with a one-month follow-up. Results One hundred and sixty-six of 1254 patients presenting to the ED (January to march 2016) had HC (13.2%) and 113 of them (68.1%) had HE. The mean age was 50.9 ± 15.9 years and males were 63.3% (n = 105). Younger age ( Conclusion HC are not rare in SSA and are associated with higher morbidity and mortality in HE. Further studies are needed to determine factors that promote HC in African patients in order to better address the prevention and management strategies of such hypertensive entity.