Ten year follow-up study regarding treatment compliance and cardiovascular events in young first diagnosed and never treated hypertensives of a European Society of Hypertension Excellence Center

Abstract

Abstract Background Early onset arterial hypertension (AH) is associated with a considerably increased risk for cardiovascular (CV) disease if left untreated. Treatment is based on the estimation of CV risk in each hypertensive patient. The compliance of each individual hypertensive in proposed life style changes and medical treatment is paramount. We aimed to investigate the compliance in medical treatment and we set as primary endpoint of the study the incidence of any CV events [CV death, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke] and all-cause death of a cohort of young first diagnosed and never treated hypertensives of a European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Excellence Center. Population and Methods: We studied 220 young, non-diabetic (<50 years old) first diagnosed and never treated hypertensive patients (42+7 years, 70% males, 41% smokers, BMI=29+5, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) =142+10/91+9 mmHg, LDL=133+36 mg/dl, 49% had >1 HMOD) visiting our ESH Excellence Center (2004-2021). All patients were apparently healthy with no co-morbidities. In each patient, the presence of hypertension mediated organ damage (HMOD) was evaluated at baseline (aortic stiffness, left ventricular hypertrophy, coronary flow reserve, diastolic dysfunction. The cohort was re-evaluated at 10+4 years post-medical treatment initiation regarding compliance as well as the primary endpoint of the study. Results 191/220 (87%) young hypertensives (at baseline, 42+7 years, 70% males, 40% smokers, BMI=29.5, 24-h ABPM=142+10/91+9 mmHg, LDL=133+36 mg/dl, 49% had>1 HMOD) participated in the follow-up study while 29 (13%) patients were lost. We found that 17/191 (9%) quit medical treatment. Home or office BP was confirmed as controlled (<140/90 mmHg) in 151/191 (79%) patients. Regarding CV events, 7/191 (4%) hypertensive patients (at baseline, 44+4 years, 86% males, 71% smokers, BMI= 30+4, 24-h ABPM=142+12/89+10 mmHg, LDL=175+33 mg/dl, 87% had>1 HMOD) had an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) at 6+4 years post-treatment initiation while 1/191 (0.5%) patient died due to lung cancer. Hypertensive patients with CV events differed regarding increased LDL levels at baseline (168+35 vs.131+36, p=0.007), more smokers (p=0.04) and HMOD >1 (p=0.02) compared to the rest of the young hypertensive population. Conclusions Compliance regarding medical treatment was sustained in 9/10 young hypertensive patients during the 10-year follow-up. Just 4% of the population, smokers with increased LDL and HMOD>1, suffered an AMI despite compliance in medical antihypertensive treatment. Subsequently, treating AH in young people needs both life style changes (quit smoking) and medical treatment (hypertension plus hyperlipidemia) in order to prevent future CV events.CV events in young hypertensives