Prevalence of hypertension and adequacy of blood pressure control in hemodialysis patients

Abstract EN

Objective: To identify the prevalence and adequacy of blood pressure control in patients on regular hemodialysis. Methods: Seventy-nine patients with end-stage renal disease on regular hemodialysis were studied.

The average of 12 blood pressure recordings taken pre- and postdialysis for 12 consecutive dialysis sessions in one month was taken.

Patients were classified as hypertensive if their pre- or post-dialysis systolic pressure was above 140 mmHg and diastolic pressure was above 90mmHg.

Patients were classified as having controlled blood pressure if systolic blood pressure was ? 140mmHg and diastolic blood pressure was ? 90mmHg preand post-dialysis with or without antihypertensive drugs. Results: Sixty-one patients (77.2%) were hypertensive.

Among the hypertensive patients 41 (67.2%) of them had uncontrolled blood pressure.

Twenty-nine patients (70.7%) withheld their antihypertensive drugs predialysis.

Time on dialysis, gender, age, bodyweight, hematocrit, and erythropoietin use did not appear to have significant relation to blood pressure control.

Interdialytic weight gain was significantly higher in patients with uncontrolled blood pressure.

The group with uncontrolled blood pressure had more patients with diabetes mellitus as a cause of their end-stage renal disease. Conclusion: This study showed that hypertension is common and poorly controlled in most patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis.

Volume overload is perhaps the major factor in the development of hypertension in this group of patients.