Hypertensive encephalopathy

The clinical and pathologic findings in 20 patients with hypertensive encephalopathy were reviewed. The dominant central nervous system (CNS) symptoms were altered state of consciousness and severe headache. Nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances were less common. Seizures and focal signs were infrequent. The changes seen were invariably accompanied both by the characteristic ophthalmoscopic alterations of malignant hypertension and by uremia. The neuropathologic changes consisted of severe vascular alterations (fibrinoid necrosis of arterioles, thrombosis of arterioles and capillaries), and of parenchymal lesions (microinfarcts, petechial hemorrhages) secondary to the vascular lesions. The vascular changes were not confined to the brain but were diffuse, affecting the eyes, kidneys, and other organs. In the CNS the brainstem was most severely affected. Cerebral edema was not observed, even in those patients who had increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure and papilledema.