Cardiovascular and Mortality Risk of Apparent Resistant Hypertension in Women With Suspected Myocardial Ischemia: A Report From the NHLBI‐Sponsored WISE Study

BACKGROUND: Women are more likely than men to develop resistant hypertension, which is associated with excess risk of major adverse outcomes; however, the impact of resistant hypertension in women with ischemia has not been explicitly studied. In this Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) analysis, we assessed long‐term adverse outcomes associated with apparent treatment‐resistant hypertension (aTRH) among women with suspected myocardial ischemia referred for coronary angiography. METHODS AND RESULTS: Women (n=927) were grouped according to baseline blood pressure (BP): normotensive (no hypertension history, BP <140/90 mm Hg, no antihypertensive drugs); controlled (BP <140/90 mm Hg and a hypertension diagnosis or on 1 to 3 drugs); uncontrolled (BP ≥140/90 mm Hg on ≤2 drugs); or aTRH (BP ≥140/90 mm Hg on 3 drugs or anyone on ≥4 drugs). Adverse outcomes (first occurrence of death [any cause], nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure or angina) were collected over 10 years of follow‐up. Apparent treatment‐resistant hypertension prevalence was 10.4% among those with hypertension. Women with aTRH had a greater incidence of adverse outcomes, compared with normotensive women (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 3.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.94 to 5.43), and women with controlled (HR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.26 to 2.49) and uncontrolled (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.15 to 2.27) hypertension; outcome differences were evident early in follow‐up. Risk of all‐cause death was greater in the aTRH group, compared to the normotensive women and women with controlled and uncontrolled hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of women with evidence of ischemia, aTRH was associated with a profoundly increased long‐term risk of major adverse events, including death, that emerged early during follow‐up.