Malignant hypertension describes patients with elevated blood pressure (BP) and multiple complications with poor prognoses.1
Today, the term hypertensive crisis is used to describe patients who present with severe BP elevations as follows: Systolic blood pressure and (SBP) greater than 180 mm Hg and Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) greater than 120 mm Hg).
The diagnosis can be further classified as a hypertensive emergency when severe elevation in BP is associated with end-organ damage or hypertensive urgency when severe hypertension occurs without it.