Asociación entre los Cambios en Fondo de Ojo, Disfunción Diastólica Ventricular y Microalbuminuria en Pacientes Hipertensos.

Hypertensive retinopathy is related to the time of exposure of the arteries to increased blood pressure, and its pattern is useful to estimate hypertensive disease evolution. The retinal arterial changes start with an initial acute vasoconstrictor phase, followed by a chronic sclerotic stage. Clinical studies have demonstrated a relationship between hypertension and left ventricle diastolic dysfunction. On the other hand, urinary albumin excretion is linked to subclinical organs damage, such as left ventricle hypertrophy and thickening of carotid artery wall; microalbuminuria is considered as a marker of morbidity and mortality in hypertensive patients. This study included 45 male hypertensive patients (blood pressure > 140/90 mm Hg, systolic/diastolic), age range 18-65 years old. Eye funduscopy and retinography was found normal in 19 (42.2%) patients hypertensive retinopathy was found in 2 (57.8%) of patients. Stage I retinopathy was found in 1 (35.5%)patients; Stage II in 9 (20.0 %) patients and Stage III in 1 (2.2%) patient. No patients showed Stage IV retinopathy. Left ventricle (LV) mass was found normal in 25 (55.6%) patients and left ventricle hypertrophy in 20 (44.4 %) of them. LV diastolic dysfunction (DD) was found in 21 (46.6%) patients; Type I DD was observed in 20 (44.4%) patients and Type II DD in only one (2.2%) case. No patients showed Type III DD. Microalbuminuria was found in 12 (26.7%) patients. When hypertensive retinopathy was matched to microalbuminuria, 19 (73.07 %) of patients did not have microalbuminuria and only 7 (26.9%) patients presented this disorder (Cramer coefficient of association= 0.007, p= 0.96). In conclusion, our findings do not demonstrate association between hypertensive retinopathy and microalbuminuria, as it has been shown in other clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]