Development of new atherosclerotic plaque in hypertensive patients: an observational registry study from the Campania-Salute network

Background and purpose: Carotid atherosclerotic plaques (CAPs) can develop despite appropriate antihypertensive therapy. In this observational study, we assessed characteristics associated with risk of incident CAP in a large hypertensive registry. Methods: We evaluated 2143 hypertensive patients without evidence of CAP. Incident CAP was censored at the time of the first ultrasound control in which CAP was detected. CAP was defined according to European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology guidelines. Results: At a median follow-up period of 56.6 months, about one-third of patients (32%; N = 688) exhibited new CAP. Those patients were older, more frequently smokers, diabetic, more often with metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease (CKD), longer hypertension history, higher baseline SBP, pulse pressure (PP), fasting glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides, greater left ventricular mass index, higher PP/stroke index ratio and carotid intima–media thickness (IMT; all P 
Source: Journal of Hypertension - Category: Cardiology Tags: ORIGINAL PAPERS: Blood vessels Source Type: research