A board-certified physician who oversees a private practice in South Florida, Naval Parikh, MD, also coordinates clinical trials at NAPA Research. With experience as an emergency medical technician, Naval Parikh, MD, has assisted in emergency first-responder situations in connection with 911 calls.
One common emergency situation involves a hypertensive crisis and is characterized by severely elevated blood pressure, with the diastolic pressure reading exceeding 120 mm Hg. The result of this type of hypertensive emergency is damage to organs such as heart, eyes, brain, blood vessels, and kidneys. Symptoms include visual and neurological disturbances, chest pain, vomiting, and shortness of breath.
In this situation, medical professionals need to lower the patient's blood pressure immediately or acute, progressive damage can further impact the target organs and cause life-threatening conditions such as intracerebral hemorrhage, hypertensive encephalopathy, and acute myocardial infarction.
Among the first-line medical therapies employed in this situation is the adrenergic receptor blocker labetalol, which is administered intravenously. The effect of the drug is to cause vasodilation, while not compromising blood flow in the cerebrum. Alternatively, the vasodilators nitroglycerin and nitroprusside may be used in a hypertensive emergency to decrease blood pressure.
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