Microalbuminuria as an Independent Risk Factor for Developing Concentric Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Primary Hypertension: A Single-Center Observational Study From South India

Introduction Microalbuminuria and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are both associated with primary hypertension. We aimed to study the correlation between these two parameters in a cohort of patients with primary hypertension. Methods We conducted a single-center observational comparative study involving patients suffering from primary hypertension in a tertiary care hospital in the southern state of Kerala in India. Patients aged more than 18 years who were diagnosed to have primary hypertension were enrolled in the study irrespective of duration of illness or treatment status. The primary objective of the study was to assess whether microalbuminuria was an independent risk factor for concentric LVH in patients with primary hypertension. The secondary objective of the study was to study the relationship between various other studied biomarkers with concentric LVH in patients with primary hypertension. Results Microalbuminuria was found to be associated with concentric LVH in patients with primary hypertension (p=0.003). Multivariate regression analysis showed that serum creatinine, high diastolic blood pressure, and microalbuminuria appeared to be independent risk factors for concentric LVH (p<0.001, 0.016, and 0.016 respectively). Conclusions Microalbuminuria is a reliable marker for predicting the prevalence of concentric LVH in patients with primary hypertension. A high serum creatinine and high diastolic blood pressure are also independent risk factors for having concentric LVH.