Resistant hypertension caused by stenosis of the aorta in elderly women: three case reports

Arterial hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disease in older than middle-aged patients. Reported incidence of secondary hypertension in this age group is around 10%. To evaluate secondary hypertension, history taking and physical examination should be precise, which are usually not routinely performed in busy outpatient clinic. Here, we report three cases of elderly women who are taking antihypertensive and visited outpatient clinic for uncontrolled hypertension. Their diagnosis of aortic stenosis was delayed, and its presence was suggested by detection of high abdominal aortic flow velocity during transthoracic echocardiography. This case report gives us lessons that suspicion of secondary hypertension and careful physical examination are most important to make diagnosis early. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40885-014-0005-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.