[Evaluation of the hereditary component in patients with essential arterial hypertension]

As is well known, genetic factors play a decisive role in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension (EH), even if they are closely related to environmental factors; it is therefore not possible to quantify with any degree of certainty the role and importance of each in the onset of hypertensive disease. The aim of the present study was to ascertain the presence of hypertensive 1st and 2nd degree ascendant, collaterals and descendants in a group of 355 out-patients with EH (167 males, 188 females; mean age: 52.9 +/- 0.7 years) using an anamnestic analysis. The results of this study confirmed the high prevalence of the hereditary component in EH: familial hypertension was found in 60.6% of the group. From a detailed analysis of the group, with regard to hypertensive ascendant, the hereditary transmission of EH by the mother was significantly higher than that by the father, both the parents and the forefathers, even if it is worth pointing out that the penetration of the genetic character was not always sex-related and was equally distributed between male and female descendents. In addition, it was observed that patients with a familial pattern of hypertension in common with collateral relatives showed significantly enhanced levels of systolic and diastolic pressure in relation to those with another hereditary component. These findings serve to underline the importance of evaluating the effective incidence of EH with regard to an entire family nucleus and not only in individual terms, in order to identify the various means of genetic transmission and possible interactions with environmental factors.