Arterial hypertension after liver transplantation.

One of the most prevalent influenceable risk factors for poor cardiovascular outcome is arterial hypertension.This is a prospective analysis of liver transplant recipients in which 24-hour blood pressure (BP) measurement was performed. The primary aim was to identify post-LT (liver transplantation) patients without a history of arterial hypertension who meet the criteria for arterial hypertension using 24-hour BP monitoring. Secondary objectives were to determine how many patients with known treated arterial hypertension had suboptimal BP control. The group included 88 patients (men, 52.3%, history of arterial hypertension group: n=56, no history of arterial hypertension group: n=32) with an average age at the time of measurement of 62.4 years±11. The average time since LT at the time of measurement was 45.2 months. De novo arterial hypertension using 24-hour BP monitoring was diagnosed in 28%. Hypertonic changes in the fundus oculi were confirmed as predictor for suboptimally controlled hypertension [OR 5,1265, p=0.0279]. On the other hand, male sex [OR 3.1840, p=0.0311], together with age [OR 1.3347, p=0.0153] and waist circumference [OR 4.3490, p=0.0418] predicted the need of intensification of antihypertensive treatment. Male sex, age and waist circumference should increase the index of suspicion and lead to zoom-in on a possibility of poorly controlled blood pressure. Where automated blood pressure monitoring is unavailable, regular examination of the fundus could serve as an available surrogate marker of suboptimally controlled arterial hypertension (Tab.6, Fig. 1, Ref. 36). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: liver transplantation, arterial hypertension, automated blood pressure monitoring.