HYPERTENSION IN ADULTS WITH IDIOPATHIC GLOMERULONEPHRITIS AND NORMAL SERUM CREATININE - A REPORT FROM THE MRC GLOMERULONEPHRITIS REGISTRY

The Medical Research Council's Glomerulonephritis Registry was used to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of hypertension occurring in patients with idiopathic glomerulonephritis (GN) and normal serum creatinine (males < 120 mumol/l, females < 100 mumol/l). The hypertension prevalence rate was 23.0% in 1221 such patients, increased significantly with age, and within each age group was greater in males than in females. These patterns closely mirror those seen for hypertension in the United Kingdom general population. However, the hypertension prevalence rates in the GN patients significantly exceeded those seen in the corresponding age/sex bands in the general UK population and varied considerably between GN subtypes; thus hypertension in patients with GN and 'near normal' renal function is not solely due to essential hypertension. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that in addition to increasing age, the presence of hypertension was significantly associated with increased serum creatinine, even in these patients with serum creatinines within the normal range. One possible explanation for these findings may be that people with an inherited tendency to essential hypertension may also be more prone to hypertension if they develop GN. Our data suggests that this early hypertension is closely associated with mild impairment of GFR, occurring within the accepted normal range for serum creatinine.