The clinical presentation of malignant hypertension in Nigerians

To document the clinical presentation of malignant accelerated hypertension in Nigerians, 56 patients were studied between 1987 and 1989 (30 months). Age range was 16 to 55 years with 59% in the range of 30-49 years; 47 were male. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 217 mmHg and 146 mmHg, respectively. Thirty patients had grade III and 26 grade IV hypertensive retinopathy. Mean body mass index was only 22.4 in the 21 patients who had no evidence of fluid retention. Seventy-five percent of patients had no awareness of hypertension. Essential hypertension accounted for 66%, chronic renal disease 32% and renal artery stenosis 2% of cases. The most common clinical features were headaches (80%), fatigue (68%), oliguria (52%), heart failure (46%), weight loss (41%), and poor vision (21%). Multiple symptoms were common and 24 patients had both renal and cardiac failure. Laboratory features included microscopic haematuria (100%) and proteinuria (100%). In 37 patients with essential hypertension, renal failure was a complication in 60%. Microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia was present in 23 patients. In addition to eight deaths from renal failure in the acute stage, 23 of these patients required long-term dialysis. Thus, malignant accelerated hypertension was associated with high morbidity, especially renal failure; it primarily afflicted patients in their prime years. Known survival at one year was 37.5%, but some patients were lost to follow-up.