Microalbuminuria is associated with abnormal thoracic aortic mechanics in essential hypertension.

In a population of 162 patients with currently untreated essential hypertension, those with microalbuminuria (n = 75) had significantly impaired elastic properties of the proximal ascending thoracic aorta compared with their normoalbuminuric counterparts (n = 87), whereas urinary albumin excretion was a significant predictor of aortic mechanics in the entire population. Impaired aortic mechanics in microalbuminuric hypertensives were not fully accounted for by clustering of classic risk factors for atherosclerosis, and constitute a finding that may entail additional long-term cardiovascular risk in this subgroup of patients.