Achieving and maintaining 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) blood pressure (BP) goals could prevent a greater number of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events than achieving prior US guideline goals but may lead to more serious adverse events, a new study found. Researchers estimated the number of CVD events prevented and treatment-related serious adverse events incurred over 10 years among US adults aged ≥45 years with hypertension by achieving 2017 ACC/AHA guideline-recommended BP goals compared with 1) current BP levels, 2) achieving 2003 Seventh Joint National Committee Report BP goals, and 3) achieving 2014 Eighth Joint National Committee panel member report BP goals. They found:

• Over 10 years, achieving and maintaining 2017 guideline goals could prevent 3 million CVD events, a greater number compared to prior US guideline goals.
• Compared with current BP levels, achieving and maintaining 2017 goals could prevent 71.9 CVD events per 1,000 treated.
• However, achieving 2017 guideline BP goals compared with current BP levels could also lead to nearly 3.3 million more serious adverse events over 10 years.