HIGH PREVALENCE OF TARGET ORGAN DAMAGE IN HYPERTENSIVE AND PREHYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS WITH ASSOCIATED CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS: PP.26.62

Abstract

The presence of silent target organ damage (TOD) in patients with hypertension is an indicator of cardiovascular disease progression. Hypertension management guidelines therefore recommend the detection of silent TOD in both hypertensive and prehypertensive patients with aggregated cardiovascular risk factors, in order to establish the global risk and apply appropriate therapeutic measures. This cross-sectional study was designed to estimate the percentage of hypertensive and prehypertensive patients with cardiovascular risk factors who present silent TOD. The study included 5551 patients (60.2% male, mean age 63.9 ± 12.1 years), with a mean body mass index of 29.6 ± 5.1 kg/m2 and a mean waist circumference of 100.9 ± 13.5 cm. A total of 5243 (94.5%) were hypertensive and 308 (5.5%) were prehypertensive. The mean systolic/diastolic BP values were 146.6 ± 16.7/85.6 ± 11.3 mmHg. In total, 47.0% were diabetic, 24.5% presented coronary artery disease, 16.2% heart failure, 8.8% cerebrovascular disease, 13.1% peripheral vascular disease and 20.3% renal impairment. The prevalence of silent TOD in hypertensive and prehypertensive patients is shown in the table.When classifying the patients according to the number of co-existing TODs, it was found that 50.3% of the hypertensive patients with TOD presented a single TOD, while 31.0% presented two TODs and 18.7% presented three or more. Among the prehypertensive patients with TODs, these percentages were 67.4%, 26.3% and 6.3%, respectively. Silent TOD in patients with aggregate cardiovascular risk factors shows a high prevalence, particularly as blood pressure levels increase. TOD identification in these patients enabled to identify those with greater cardiovascular risk, potential beneficiaries of a more active therapeutic attitude.