What was the initial blood pressure that led to the diagnosis of hypertension in Ms. Mathias?

What was the initial blood pressure that led to the diagnosis of hypertension in Ms. Mathias?

• A. 120/80 mm Hg
• B. 150/100 mm Hg
• C. 130/85 mm Hg
• D. 180/110 mm Hg

Answer: (B)

Blood pressure is considered hypertensive when the readings exceed 140 systolic or 90 diastolic on repeated measurements. An initial reading of 150/100 mm Hg is above these thresholds, so it clearly meets the criterion for hypertension and would prompt confirmation and further assessment to establish a diagnosis. This result would lead to follow-up measurements on separate occasions (or ambulatory monitoring) to confirm persistent elevation and rule out transient factors or measurement error. The other values fall at or below normal or fall into less definitive ranges (normal, borderline/prehypertension, or a hypertensive crisis), so they don’t indicate a diagnosis of hypertension as directly as the 150/100 reading does.

Blood pressure is considered hypertensive when the readings exceed 140 systolic or 90 diastolic on repeated measurements. An initial reading of 150/100 mm Hg is above these thresholds, so it clearly meets the criterion for hypertension and would prompt confirmation and further assessment to establish a diagnosis.

This result would lead to follow-up measurements on separate occasions (or ambulatory monitoring) to confirm persistent elevation and rule out transient factors or measurement error. The other values fall at or below normal or fall into less definitive ranges (normal, borderline/prehypertension, or a hypertensive crisis), so they don’t indicate a diagnosis of hypertension as directly as the 150/100 reading does.