[Predictors of chronic renal failure in patients in a hypertension center]

To verify which clinical variables can predict the evolution to chronic renal insufficiency in routinely evaluated hypertensives.

358 patients from the Hypertension Center of the Botucatu School of Medicine (São Paulo State University) were evaluated. Sequential evaluation of glomerular filtration rate was detected in 210 patients, who were analyzed. Logistic regression was applied to identify clinical variables independently associated with the development of chronic renal insufficiency with a final glomerular filtration rate equal to or below 60 ml/min.

In routine urinalysis only proteinuria was independently associated with the outcome. Among 175 patients with initial glomerular filtration rate above 60 ml/min, proteinuria, female gender and age of 50 years or more were predictors of the evolution to a final glomerular filtration rate equal to or below 60 ml/min.

The presence of proteinuria in simple urinalysis was a risk factor and a reliable predictor associated with the development of chronic renal insufficiency among hypertensives.