19th June 2026

Clinical manifestations

Clinical manifestations

The large majority of patients with hypertension are asymptomatic. Headaches are a common feature, classically occipital. Other associated features give useful clues to the underlying secondary cause of hypertension, for example, weight gain, muscle weakness and thinning skin in Cushing’s syndrome. 

Malignant hypertension may be associated with:

• Hypertensive retinopathy
• Visual disturbance
• Cardiac symptoms, e.g. chest pain
• Confusion (cerebral oedema)
• Oliguria or polyuria