April 7, 2021

REBEL Core Cast 53.0 – Hypertensive Encephalopathy

Take Home Points

• Altered mental status has numerous possible etiologies. Splitting it into vital sign issues, toxic/metabolic, infectious processes, CNS issues (bleed, mass) and psych/dementia is a good way to organize your thoughts
• Hypertensive encephalopathy is a diagnosis of exclusion - make sure you're not dealing with another process like meningitis or an intracranial hemorrhage
• Once the diagnosis of hypertensive encephalopathy is made, shoot to lower the SBP by about 20-25% over the hour using a drug like nicardipine, clevidipine or labetalol