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Renal artery calcium is independently associated with hypertension

Matthew A Allison1, Elizabeth O Lillie, Dominic DiTomasso

  • 1Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California, USA. mallison@ucsd.edu

Journal of the American College of Cardiology
|October 16, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Renal artery calcium (RAC), a marker of atherosclerosis, is linked to a higher likelihood of hypertension. This association persists even when considering other cardiovascular risk factors.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular medicine
  • Nephrology
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Atherosclerotic plaque burden in systemic vasculature correlates with hypertension.
  • Renal artery calcium (RAC) serves as a marker for atherosclerotic plaque burden.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between renal artery calcium (RAC) and hypertension.
  • To determine if RAC is independently linked to elevated blood pressure levels.

Main Methods:

  • Evaluated 1,435 consecutive patients for systemic calcified atherosclerosis.
  • Assessed the prevalence of calcium in renal arteries.
  • Utilized logistic regression to adjust for various cardiovascular risk factors.

Main Results:

  • Overall prevalence of RAC was 17.1%, higher in men.
  • Subjects with RAC showed a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension (41.2% vs. 29.5%).
  • Any RAC presence was associated with a 1.61 odds ratio for hypertension, independent of other factors.

Conclusions:

  • Presence of renal artery calcium is associated with increased odds of prevalent hypertension.
  • This association is independent of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors.
  • RAC may serve as an additional indicator for hypertension risk assessment.
Abstract

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