AusDoc brings you the latest news from the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2021.

Aggressive blood pressure-lowering to a target of 130mmHg or lower in over-60s with hypertension substantially lowers the incidence of cardiovascular events compared with standard therapy, researchers say.

Results from the Strategy of Blood Pressure Intervention in the Elderly Hypertensive Patients (STEP) randomised controlled trial, which was stopped early because of the clear benefit of intensive treatment, also show it has an acceptable safety profile, the Chinese researchers say.

However, principal investigator Professor Jun Cai, from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, China noted that intensive antihypertensive treatment did lead to a higher incidence of hypotension.