ABSTRACT
Background: Hypertension is a common and important cardiovascular risk factor in patients on chronic hemodialysis. Aim: To report the prevalence and characteristics of hypertension among patients on chronic hemodialysis. Patients and methods: Cross sectional study of 313 patients (192 male, aged 57 ñ 18 years) dialyzed in 7 representative centers in Santiago, Chile. Results: Patients were on hemodialysis for a mean of 68 ñ 53 months and 67 (21 percent) were diabetic. 230 (74 percent) were hypertensive and 223 of these (97 percent) had predialysis hypertension. A multivariate analysis showed that hypertension was associated with increased weight gain between dialysis, failure to achieve the postdialysis dry weight, increasing age and the presence of diabetes. Among hypertensive patients, 61 percent were receiving antihypertensive medications, compared with 27 percent of patients with normal blood pressure. Conclusions: High blood pressure is highly prevalent among patients on chronic hemodialysis and is associated to hypervolemia, age and the presence of diabetes