ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the correlation among carotid atherosclerosis, ankle-brachial index (ABI) and urinary microalbumin (UMA) level in patients with essential hypertension (EH). Methods: A total of 215 EH patients treated in our hospital from Apr 2014 to Aug 2015 were selected. According to 24h UMA level, patients were divided into normal UMA group (n=116) and microalbuminuria (MAU) group (n=99). General data, UMA level, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), carotid artery lumen diameter, incidence rate of plaque and ABI were measured and compared between two groups. Correlation among CIMT, ankle-brachial index (ABI) and urinary microalbumin (UMA) level was analyzed in EH + MAU patients. Results: There were no significant difference in age, gender, levels of blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, blood lipids and serum creatinine between two groups, P＞0. 05 all. Compared with normal UMA group, there were significant rise in UMA level [21. 25 (15. 75, 25. 75) mg/d vs. 86. 50 (56. 50, 104. 50) mg/d], CIMT [(1. 20± 1. 09) mm vs. (1. 76±0. 81) mm]and incidence rate of plaque (55. 17％ vs. 75. 76％), and significant reduction in ABI [(1. 12±0. 11) vs. (0. 97±0. 11)] in MAU group, P＜0. 01 all. Linear correlation analysis indicated that UMA level was significant positively correlated with CIMT (r=0. 551, P=0. 001), and significant inversely correlated with ABI (r=-0. 266, P=0. 008) in EH + MAU patients. Conclusion: In EH+ MAU patients, MAU is significant positively correlated with CIMT, and significant inversely correlated with ABI, suggesting MAU is not only related to hypertensive renal disease, but also an early sign of subclinical atherosclerosis.