Resistant hypertension hits SLE patients hard

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were 72% more likely to have resistant hypertension than were control patients at a tertiary care center.

^{wildpixel/Thinkstock}

A patient with resistant hypertension either has blood pressure remaining above 140/90 mm Hg while taking three antihypertensive medications or requires the use of four or more antihypertensives to attain blood pressure control. Resistant hypertension, which was more likely to occur among blacks and patients with lower renal function, hypercholesterolemia, and increased inflammatory markers, increased the risk of death nearly threefold (hazard ratio, 2.91; P = .0005) when compared with those who didn’t have this condition.

The results of this analysis were published March 15 in Arthritis Care & Research (doi: 10.1002/acr.23880). We covered this study at the 2018 annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in Chicago before it was published in the journal. Read our previous story at the link above.

jevans@mdedge.com