RESUMO
To evaluate the characteristics that the renin and aldosterone profile could present in essential hypertensive patients complicated with ischemic heart disease, and as a contribution to the knowledge of the roll that these hormones could have as possible "risk factors" of coronary heart disease, sixty male patients were studied. These were divided in three groups: group I, formed by 15 essential hypertensive patients with objectively demonstrated ischemic heart disease; group II integrated by 15 essential hypertensives with no ischemic heart disease and group III with 30 normal volunteers. Serum levels of plasma renin activity (PRA) and aldosterone determined by radioimmunoassay, and of urinary sodium excretion were measured in all the patients. The distribution of cases with high, normal and low renin and aldosterone were similar in group I and in group II. It was interesting to find that the four patients of group I who were non-smokers, presented the lower renin levels (from 0.36 to 2.8 ng/ml/h). The relation between PRA and the number of occluded coronary arteries revealed an increased number of patients and affected arteries in the subgroup with renin levels above 5 ng/ml/h in comparison with the subgroup with PRA from 0 to 5, although the difference was not statistically significant. By our study, we cannot conclude that the PRA and aldosterone behave in a different fashion in essential hypertensives from those complicated with ischemic heart disease.
