Evaluation of the metabolic syndrome in hypertensive patients: results from the ICEBERG Study.

The Intensive/Initial Cardiovascular Examination Regarding Blood Pressure Levels: Evaluation of Risk Groups (ICEBERG) study was aimed at evaluating the components of the metabolic syndrome (MS) for cardiovascular risk stratification in hypertensive patients. The ICEBERG study consisted of 2 subprotocols: ICEBERG-1, conducted at 20 university hospitals, and ICEBERG-2, conducted at 197 primary health care centers. Each subprotocol had 2 patient profiles: patients diagnosed with hypertension and receiving medical treatment (treated group) and patients who had not received antihypertensive treatment (untreated group). MS was defined in the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel as the presence of at least 3 of the following abnormalities: decreased plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, increased plasma triglyceride level, hypertension, increased fasting glucose level, and obesity. In a total of 4039 patients, 65.0% had MS, 30.2% had 3 components, 15.0% had 2 components, and 24.8% had 4 components. The most common accompanying component to hypertension was abdominal obesity. Therefore, this study underlined the value of questioning metabolic components in patients with high-normal or high blood pressure to identify individuals with high added risk of cardiovascular disease.