[Follow-up study of 48 athletes with stage I hypertension with and without pharmacotherapy]

We found in an earlier investigation that the frequency of hypertension is considerably lower among male athletes than in a random sample of the general population. The cases of hypertension in younger athletes are primarily hypertension stage I (WHO). We followed up on the question of the course of hypertension stage I and the possibility of spontaneous remission. For this, we observed 28 nonmedicated patients with hypertension stage I for 4.2 +/- 2.3 years, 20 patients undergoing drug therapy for 2.5 +/- 1.3 years, and 12 healthy athletes for 4.2 +/- 2.2 years. Under drug therapy, as expected, there was a normalization of both basic and exercise blood pressures. Fifty percent of patients without drug therapy showed remission of the elevated basic and exercise pressures after 2 to 3 years; 50% had an unchanged high pressure or deterioration. The transition of hypertension WHO stage I to stage II with regard to left ventricular hypertrophy could be ruled out echocardiographically in patients with a favorable course (remission). However, there was a tendency in this direction among patients with the least favorable course.