Follow-up of cardiovascular risk markers in hypertensive patients treated with irbesartan: results of the i-SEARCH Plus Registry.

Microalbuminuria (MAU), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are risk markers used to predict the prognosis of hypertensive patients; however, they have not been prospectively evaluated in primary care. An investigation was conducted using i-SEARCH Plus, a registry documenting 1649 patients with hypertension who received irbesartan at office-based cardiologists over 12 months. Mean age at baseline was 61.4±11.3 years, 43.2% were women, and blood pressure was 159.8±20.1/93.4±11.9mm Hg. Median albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) at baseline was 9.90 (interquartile range [IQR], 5.76--25.52) mg/g, hsCRP 2.46 (IQR, 1.16--5.14) mg/L, and NT-proBNP 89.28 (IQR, 38.63-203.40) pg/mL. In patients with MAU (ACR ≥20mg/g), the age-adjusted risk of a combined end point of newly diagnosed coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction, stroke/transitory ischemic attack, and death at 12-month follow-up was increased (odds ratio [OR], 2.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.49-4.76), as was the incidence of CAD (OR, 3.27; 95%CI, 1.39-7.68) and death (OR, 4.63; 95%CI, 1.44-14.94). No correlations with end points were found for hsCRP or NT-proBNP after adjusting for age and the presence of MAU. MAU is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients. These findings confirm previous reports on the prognostic value of MAU and establish its incremental value over hsCRP and NT-proBNP.