[The entity of arterial hypertension in black subjects].

High blood pressure in black subjects has been recognized as a clinical entity because of high prevalence, frequent severe complications and pathophysiological and therapeutic specificities. Results from 52 centers in 32 countries show wide variability. In the black population in United States, mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels are high, 128/81 mmHg, with a prevalence of hypertension reaching 33.5%, while an ethnic population in Kenya has low mean levels, 110/68 mmHg, with a hypertension prevalence of only 5%. Complications have been reported to be more frequent in black populations. In the United States, in comparison with the white population morbidity due to left ventricular hypertrophy is increased by 2, end-stage renal failure by 4.2 and mortality due to cerebral vascular diseases by 1.5. However, risk factors including over-weight, alcohol consumption, sodium intake and the socioeconomic environment have been shown to explain most of the differences between the white and the black populations. Differences in diagnosis and management may also play a role. Indeed, while genetic selection may have had an effect, there is no current scientific data which would justify using the colour of the skin as a genetic marker for high blood pressure.