A comparative study to determine the better predictor of renal impairment in essential hypertensive patients

Introduction and Objectives: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the major public health problems of adult population. HTN and renal functions are closely related and it is a predisposing factor for renal abnormalities. The objectives of the study were to estimate and compare the levels of Microalbuminuria (MAU), serum creatinine and estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) in essential hypertensives and to correlate their levels with duration of HTN. Materials and Methods: The data of the cross sectional study includes physical measurements, blood pressure and biochemical investigations like serum creatinine, MAU [measured using Albumin Creatinine Ratio (ACR)] & eGFR. Result: Out of 220 subjects, 112 (48.21% male and 51.78% female) were essential hypertensives and 112 (47.32% male and 52.68% female) were non-hypertensives. Mean value of serum creatinine was within the normal range in both the study groups. 62.5% hypertensives had MAU as compared to 4.46% non-hypertensives. The difference in eGFR was not statistically significant among the study groups. Receiver Operative Characteristic curve (ROC) for duration of HTN showed that area under the curve for MAU was more as compared to serum creatinine and eGFR. Conclusion: HTN is a non-communicable disease (NCD) that still remains inadequately treated. The kidney is considered as a prime target for hypertensive damage. Our study suggests that MAU is prevalent in essential hypertensive subjects and has a positive correlation with the duration of HTN. MAU can be used as a better predictor of renal impairment in essential hypertensive patients as compared to serum creatinine and eGFR. More extensive screening for MAU should be performed to facilitate better stratification of renal disease in hypertensive patients.