P115 ALBUMIN-TO-CREATININE RATIO IS ASSOCIATED WITH TARGET ORGAN DAMAGE IN HYPERTENSION

• Main Authors: Losif Koutagiar, Charalambos Vlachopoulos, Dimitrios Terentes-Printzios, Nikolaos Loakeimidis, Christos Georgakopoulos, Konstantinos Aznaouridis, Panagiotis Xaplanteris, Athanasios Angelis, Dimitrios Tousoulis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Atlantis Press 2017-12-01
• Series: Artery Research
• Online Access: https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/125930326/view

Purpose/Background/Objectives: Hypertension is associated with higher cardiovascular risk as well as several markers of subclinical target organ damage (TOD). Albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) in urine has been recognised as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. We hypothesised that there is a relationship between ACR and markers of TOD in never- treated hypertensives. Methods: We enrolled 924 consecutive essential hypertensives (mean age 53±12 years, 486 males) without known cardiovascular disease (CVD). Markers of subclinical TOD [left ventricular mass index (LVMI), pulse wave velocity (PWV), ankle-brachial index (ABI) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)] were evaluated in all patients. LVMI was assessed echocardiographically using the Devereux formula. Carotid-femoral PWV was estimated with the Complior device. eGFR was calculated by the Cockcroft-Gault formula. ABI was calculated by dividing the highest ankle systolic blood pressure by the highest brachial systolic blood pressure. Results: ACR exhibited significant association with LVMI (r = 0.277, p < 0.001), PWV (r = 0.277, p < 0.001) ABI (r = −0.078, p = 0.018) and eGFR (r = −0.100, p = 0.002). In further analysis, ACR was associated with TOD as suggested by the 2013 European Guidelines for Hypertension [left ventricular hypertrophy (LVMI > 115 g/m2 in men and >95 g/m2 in women), increased PWV (PWV > 10m/s), decreased ABI (ABI < 0.9) and decreased renal function (eGFR < 60ml/min)]. Specifically, ACR exhibited a significant association with the number of TOD and this association was independent of age and gender (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings support the close relationship between ACR and TOD in hypertension, as well as, the predictive ability of ACR for TOD.