2013 ESH/ESC Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension

The 2013 guidelines on hypertension of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) follow the guidelines jointly issued by the two societies in 2003 and 2007 1, 2. Publication of a new document 6 years after the previous one was felt to be timely because, over this period, important studies have been conducted and many new results been published on both the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with an elevated blood pressure (BP), making refinements, modifications and expansion of the previous recommendations necessary.