[Prevalence of microalbuminuria in recent-onset essential hypertension].

To determine the prevalence of increased microalbuminuria (AER) in essential hypertension, we studied an omogeneous population comprehensive of 160 mild-moderate essential hypertensives (EH) and 30 normotensive controls. All subjects underwent measurement of AER and creatinine clearance (CCl) on the 24-hour urine collection, and of plasma renin activity (PRA). The 24-hour mean arterial pressure (24h-BP) was also obtained by non-invasive ambulatory BP monitoring. The EH were subdivided into subgroups on the basis of their AER values (less or over 11 micrograms/min). Among the 160 EH the prevalence of high AER levels was of 37.5% (n = 60), showing in this subgroup of EH a mean value of 29.5 +/- 4 micrograms/min. Moreover, in the whole population of 160 EH, AER was significantly correlated to 24h-diastolic BP (p < 0.05). The subgroup of 60 EH with AER > 11 micrograms/min showed also Ccl values higher than the other subgroup of EH (p < 0.02), while non significant differences between age, mean duration of EH, PRA, and 24h-BP, both systolic and diastolic, were observed. Our results lead to hypothesize that in essential hypertension there exists a subgroup of subjects characterized, in the early phase of disease, by high capillary glomerular pressure, GFR and microalbuminuria values.